C-5M claims 45 aviation records

 

Travis Air Force Base, California – In the early morning of April 3, 2015, a C-5M Super Galaxy aircrew from Travis Air Force Base, California, established standards in 45 previously unset categories. The aircrew claimed records in the Class C-1.T jet category for altitude in horizontal flight, altitude with payload, time-to-climb, time-to-climb with payload, and greatest payload to 9,000m.

 

The eight-person crew, were members of the 60th Air Mobility Wing's 22nd Airlift Squadron and the 349th AMW's 312th AS.

 

"The successful completion of this mission exemplifies both the great teamwork required by the whole team to keep Travis' aircraft flying and the fabulous strategic mobility capabilities the C-5M brings our combatant commanders around the world," said Col. Joel Jackson, 60th AMW commander. 

 

The C-5M was loaded with pallets, fuel and the aircrew for a total of 731,220 lb, including the weight of the plane.  

 

"We took on approximately 265,000 lb of cargo and our goal was to climb as fast as we could at 3,000, 6,000, and 9,000 meters," said Maj. Jon Flowers, 22nd Airlift Squadron chief of standardization and evaluation and pilot for the flight. "We got up to an altitude of approximately 37,000ft before we ran out of performance."

 

Among the records achieved were altitude in horizontal flight at 37,000ft, altitude with payload of 265,000 lb, and time it takes to climb at 27.5 minutes.

 

The Super Galaxy has now unofficially claimed a total of 86 world aeronautical records, surpassing the B-1B Lancer at 83 records.

 

All records will be certified by the National Aeronautic Association. Formal certifications of the C-5M records are expected to take several weeks.

 

"The model before this was performance limited," Flowers said. "It did not have the climb capability or the cargo capability. The C-5M has been changing the game for the warfighter and tonight we made that point to put the capabilities in the record books."

 

From aerial porters to maintainers, active duty and reservists from Team Travis made a joint effort to effectively achieve this goal.

 

"We're honored to play a role in this historic demonstration," said Col. Matthew Burger, 349th AMW commander. "The new capabilities of the C-5M make America better equipped to the global challenges of the 21st Century."