Last Active Duty Starlifters Retired

The last two Lockheed C-141 Starlifters on active military duty in the US arrived at Davis-Monthan AFB (AZ), their last journey before retirement.

"It was a fantastic airplane," retired loadmaster Ron Nicklaus, 67, of Harrisburg (PA), told the Delaware News-Journal. "It was an excellent airplane. It's like your dad's station wagon. You could fill it up, and it would go anywhere."

The first C-141 was delivered to Tinker AFB (OK) in 1964 -- the first transport jet in the military arsenal.

There are still 20 Starlifters on the ramp at reserve bases in Ohio and California. They're slated to be retired in 2006, when they'll be replaced by C-17 Globemasters.

C-141 Facts

General Characteristics
Primary Function: Cargo and troop transport
Contractor: Lockheed-Georgia Co.
Power Plant: Four Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-7 turbofan engines
Thrust: 20,250 pounds, each engine
Wingspan: 160 feet (48.7 meters)
Length: 168 feet, 4 inches (51 meters
Height: 39 feet, 3 inches (11.9 meters)
Cargo Compartment: Height, 9 feet 1 inch (2.77 meters); length, 93 feet 4 inches (28.45 meters); width, 10 feet 3 inches (3.12 meters)
Cargo Door: width, 10.25 feet (3.12 meters); height, 9.08 feet (2.76 meters)
Speed: 500 mph (Mach 0.74) at 25,000 feet
Ceiling: 41,000 feet (12,496 meters) at cruising speed
Range: Unlimited with in-flight refueling
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 323,100 lbs (146,863 kilograms)
Load: Either 200 troops, 155 paratroops, 103 litters and 14 seats, or 68,725 lbs (31,239 kilograms) of cargo
Unit Cost: $47.4 million (fiscal 2002 constant dollars)
Crew: Five or six: two pilots, two flight engineers and one loadmaster and one navigator (added for airdrops). Aeromedical teams are two flight nurses and three medical technicians each are added for aeromedical evacuation missions.
Date Deployed: C-141A: October 1964; C-141B: December 1979; C-141C: October 1997.
Inventory: Active duty, 0; Air Force Reserve, 20

FMI: www.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?fsID=93