C-17 now in service. Hallelujah crews will rejoice in their latest piece of Kit.
Jet boosts air force's heavy lift capacity Globemaster fit for 'tactical flying' into Afghanistan
Matthew Fisher, Canwest News Service
The lights of a lonely village twinkled below as Maj. Tim Burke manoeuvred the giant, camouflaged C-17 Globemaster into position for a spine-tingling, rapid descent into Kandahar Airfield with a 43,000-kilogram load of ammo, mail, medical supplies, computers and paper cups for Canadian troops fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.
For Burke, 44, commanding Canada's newest, biggest and most expensive aircraft was the culmination of a 25-year military career spent flying tiny Challenger executive jets, second-hand Polaris Airbus 310s and venerable C-130 Hercules that were often nearly as old as he is.
Capt. Rob Doucette, 27, was living the dream, too.
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The Cape Bretoner was what the air force calls a Pipeliner. A graduate of the Royal Military College and fresh out of flying school, the first job the air force gave him was in the left seat of the cockpit of an aircraft worth somewhere around $200 million.
This is exactly what we needed because it takes large cargoes efficiently over great distances, said Burke, who, like all the pilots, loadmasters and technicians on the C-17, was attached to 429 Squadron in Trenton, Ont.
Flying into Afghanistan is very different than the usual strategic airlift. This is tactical flying. We are more stressed out, but it is challenging and rewarding.
To prepare to fly C-17s, Burke spent several months attached to the U.S. air force. His seasoning included three flights into Iraq.
Because it is a highly complicated computer-driven aircraft, it takes a little more time to learn to spin all the dials, the Windsor, Ont., native said. But it is easy to fly manually and is very stable even at low level.
Capt. Frank Dionne, who helps oversee the unloading of C-17s and C-130s in Kandahar, said, the new aircraft makes a world of difference for planning purposes. It gives us flexibility and we can move a lot more weight.
Although it has a wingspan of more than 50 metres and is more than 50 metres long, the Globemaster can operate from short dirt strips. It can carry four to five times as much cargo as a C-130, depending upon how the aircraft was configured. In fact, the back ramp could carry as much weight as an entire C-130 payload.
It is quite amazing to see the capabilities of a jet this size -- such as landing on runways that are only 90 feet across, Doucette said. It means we can get into some very austere locations.
Canada took delivery last week of the fourth and last C-17 it ordered only 14 months ago from Boeing in Long Beach, Calif.
The rush order, which with parts and service support cost $3.4 billion, was the Harper government's answer to a strategic airlift shortfall that had bedevilled military logisticians for years and was causing difficulties in getting supplies and troops to the Canadian battle group in landlocked Afghanistan.
Having the Globemaster also meant Canada would in future avoid the embarrassment of having to wait in a long queue to borrow U.S. C-17s or rent
Soviet-era Ilyushin-76 and Antonov-124 transports to deploy its DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) to assist at catastrophes such as the tsunami in Sri Lanka and the earthquake in Afghanistan.
Military cargoes come in awkward shapes and it is a big question whether we want others to carry such cargoes for us, Burke said, citing the Globemaster's ability to haul three Griffon helicopters with refuelling tanks, a Leopard 2 tank or as many as 100 paratroopers.
And moments before his first landing at the busy airfield that is the hub of NATO operations in southern Afghanistan, Doucette said: I'm a Kandahar baby.
Some of the tactical approaches we can make with this aircraft are pretty wild. And they are even more awesome to see from the ground. You could not ask for a better job.
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, Burke, who joined the air force when his co-pilot was only two years old, said: I would have loved for this to have been my first plane.
The Load masters who take care of all the loads both Tactical and non-tactical have come a long way since my Air Supply Corse at Rivers Manitoba in 1962 where we were taught air drops and cargo handling on these Veteran aircraft; C-119 The Flying Boxcar
Then we moved on to the Oldest workhorse that is still serving many airforces around the Globe. The everfaithful C-130 Hercules.
I feel that this is a great aircraft which will help us move Larger loads much more efficiently, with thanks to a wobbly wing pilot for the story.Rex in Alberta.
Per Ardua Ad Astra as the airforce Motto goes.
Please Support our Troops wear red on a friday..Thankyou.
Nil Sine labore
robby
