That's A Whole Lotta Globemasters...

While the official reason the largest formation ever of C-17 Globemaster IIIs from a single base took off Thursday morning from Charleston AFB was to demonstrate the strategic airdrop capability of the Air Force... ya can't deny it also just looked really, really cool.

Seventeen C-17s took off at about 10:20 am Thursday morning for the formation flight, besting the 15 C-17s Washington's McChord AFB that took flight earlier this year.

The training mission was a joint endeavor embarked on by aircrew members assigned to both the 437th and the 315th Airlift Wings at Charleston.

The formation left the base en route to locations around the southeast to perform required quarterly, semiannual and end-of-year currency training requirements. The crews were able to practice their airdrop and aerial refueling skills during the mission.

The C-17 formation conducted low-level training in the Charleston area before taking part in a massive airdrop at North Auxiliary Air Field, SC.

Charleston aircrews fly daily missions worldwide supporting the war on terrorism. On average, Charleston’s C-17s move more than 295 tons of cargo every day. About 45 percent of all air cargo bound for American warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan originates at Charleston.

If fully loaded, the 17 airlifters would be able haul more than 2,890,000 pounds of cargo or more than 1,734 passengers.

FMI: www.af.mil