Lockheed Aircraft Corp.'s C-5 Galaxy military transport measures
barely 10 yds. shorter than a football field, sports a tail assembly as
tall as a six-story building, and has a cargo compartment that is
longer than the Wright brothers' first flight off the side of North
Carolina's Kill Devil Hill sand dune. And it flies. At Georgia's
Dobbins Air Force Base one morning last week, following an overnight
postponement because of last-minute technical problems, the first C-5
lifted gently off the runway for a 94-minute test. Aside from some
minor difficulty with the landing gear, the world's largest aircraft,
exulted Lockheed Test Pilot Leo J. Sullivan, performed in a way that
was “phenomenally beautiful.” Lockheed officials and Air Force brass were equally enthusiastic.
Developed under a $1.9 billion contract with the Air Force, which has 58 of
the planes ordered for delivery by 1971 , the 540-m.p.h. C-5 is
both bigger and faster than Russia's AN-22, until now the largest
aircraft in operation. With a maximum payload of 265,000 Ibs. and a
range, when fully loaded, of 2,875 miles, the Lockheed plane is powered
by four General Electric fanjet TF-39s, the world's most powerful
aircraft engines. The C5, which is capable of carrying either 750 troops or the largest
piece of Army combat equipment , has 28 wheels
to distribute its weight so that it can land on remote dirt
airstrips or even pastures. The plane promises to revolutionize
military logistics and strategy. Inspecting the craft at Lockheed's
Marietta, Ga., plant back in March, President Johnson noted that 88
ordinary cargo planes would be necessary to move an infantry brigade
from Hawaii to Viet Nam—and the brigade's heaviest equipment would
have to go by ship. By contrast, just 20 C-5s could handle the whole
operation. The plane, said the President, ushers in a “new era in
America's power.” 1,000-Passenger Potential. It might also signal a new era in
civilian-pas-senger and freight transportation. Lockheed plans to
put out a nonmilitary version of the C-5—the L-500—by 1971. In an
all-passenger configuration, the L-500 could conceivably carry up to
1,000 people, which would allow airlines to slice New York-London
fares as low as $75. Initially, Lockheed plans to produce and sell the L-500 as an all-cargo
plane only—but the economics should be equally dramatic. Airlines
presently account for less than 1% of all North Atlantic freight
traffic, but have been making encouraging inroads on ocean shipping
on certain types of goods—no-tably clothing. The L-500's huge payload
in its 121-ft.-long cargo area would enable airlines to carry freight
for as little as 2 per ton-mile, low enough to give surface shipping a
great deal of competition on a broader range of cargo.
