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C-5A Galaxy


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Hi All.

Not my area of expertise but I am going to build the Roden C-5 Galaxy in the original white top over grey livery but wanted to check if the U.S.AIR FORCE fuselage titles and the wing USAF are dark blue or black as I can't tell for sure from the pics I have seen.

Thanks for your help

Ray

 

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The model comes as a B version correct? Was the B lengthened? I thought I read that somewhere but can't find anything on it. What are the physical differences? I want to make an early A model to but want to start with a decent kit.

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4 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

The model comes as a B version correct? Was the B lengthened? I thought I read that somewhere but can't find anything on it. What are the physical differences? I want to make an early A model to but want to start with a decent kit.

I think that you are thinking of the C-141 Starlifter in which the B version was lengthened. For the C-5 the B version upgrade was all internal (I think), but there was no lengthening of the fuselage.

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3 minutes ago, Jabba said:

I think that you are thinking of the C-141 Starlifter in which the B version was lengthened. For the C-5 the B version upgrade was all internal (I think), but there was no lengthening of the fuselage.

Not the 141. I want one of these to. Had a hard time finding info out.

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There are no external differences between the A and B that would be noteworthy in 1/144.  The tail numbers are, of course, 1980's tail numbers, because those are the fiscal years when the USG procured them.  From a passenger perspective (having flown on both), the A's were more beaten-up on the inside, and the B's cleaner and obviously newer.  From a performance standpoint, I think the B was cleared for higher weights.

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1 hour ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

There are no external differences between the A and B that would be noteworthy in 1/144.  The tail numbers are, of course, 1980's tail numbers, because those are the fiscal years when the USG procured them.  From a passenger perspective (having flown on both), the A's were more beaten-up on the inside, and the B's cleaner and obviously newer.  From a performance standpoint, I think the B was cleared for higher weights.

Interesting to know, thanks.

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14 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

The model comes as a B version correct? Was the B lengthened? I thought I read that somewhere but can't find anything on it. What are the physical differences? I want to make an early A model to but want to start with a decent kit.

The only external difference between an A and B model is the antenna on the underside of the movable nose cone.  On the A models it is shark shaped.  On the B models it is something more along the lines of what we think of for a blade antenna, i.e. a vertical rectangle.  My avatar picture was taken during the Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) that I worked on with a lot of other people.  One of the changes was to remove that antenna on both the A and B models and put in a new antenna that looks like a square with a horizontal rod on the outboard end of it.  I was able to get one of the A antennas since they were going to be thrown away as it was.  The two C models, being converted As, had the A style nosecone antenna until they received the AMP mod.  As far as lengthening the fuselage, I would say that you were thinking of the C-141B.  It had two fuselage plugs installed, one fore and one aft of the wing box.  I worked on both the 141s and C-5s while I was still active duty and much preferred the C-141.  Never cared much for the C-5 even though I made a bunch of money off of them with two stints working for Lockheed-Martin doing two separate mods on them.  Too many damn stairs on a C-5.  Was always afraid I was going to fall down the stairs and bust my rear end.

Later,

Dave

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37 minutes ago, e8n2 said:

The only external difference between an A and B model is the antenna on the underside of the movable nose cone.  On the A models it is shark shaped.  On the B models it is something more along the lines of what we think of for a blade antenna, i.e. a vertical rectangle.  My avatar picture was taken during the Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) that I worked on with a lot of other people.  One of the changes was to remove that antenna on both the A and B models and put in a new antenna that looks like a square with a horizontal rod on the outboard end of it.  I was able to get one of the A antennas since they were going to be thrown away as it was.  The two C models, being converted As, had the A style nosecone antenna until they received the AMP mod.  As far as lengthening the fuselage, I would say that you were thinking of the C-141B.  It had two fuselage plugs installed, one fore and one aft of the wing box.  I worked on both the 141s and C-5s while I was still active duty and much preferred the C-141.  Never cared much for the C-5 even though I made a bunch of money off of them with two stints working for Lockheed-Martin doing two separate mods on them.  Too many damn stairs on a C-5.  Was always afraid I was going to fall down the stairs and bust my rear end.

Later,

Dave

Thanks Dave, very helpful info.

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8 hours ago, e8n2 said:

The only external difference between an A and B model is the antenna on the underside of the movable nose cone.  On the A models it is shark shaped.  On the B models it is something more along the lines of what we think of for a blade antenna, i.e. a vertical rectangle.  My avatar picture was taken during the Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) that I worked on with a lot of other people.  One of the changes was to remove that antenna on both the A and B models and put in a new antenna that looks like a square with a horizontal rod on the outboard end of it.  I was able to get one of the A antennas since they were going to be thrown away as it was.  The two C models, being converted As, had the A style nosecone antenna until they received the AMP mod.  As far as lengthening the fuselage, I would say that you were thinking of the C-141B.  It had two fuselage plugs installed, one fore and one aft of the wing box.  I worked on both the 141s and C-5s while I was still active duty and much preferred the C-141.  Never cared much for the C-5 even though I made a bunch of money off of them with two stints working for Lockheed-Martin doing two separate mods on them.  Too many damn stairs on a C-5.  Was always afraid I was going to fall down the stairs and bust my rear end.

Later,

Dave

One thing, is there any physical difference with the engines and the tail cone? I saw replacement parts for those that are specified for the C-5B.

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15 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

One thing, is there any physical difference with the engines and the tail cone? I saw replacement parts for those that are specified for the C-5B.

Not that I am aware of.  There was one difference between the A and B model engines that I was aware of, but it was internal only.  They changed the cabling for the engine vibe system but it didn't really matter as it was very unreliable.  On another point that I thought of last night after I got off-line.  All of the B models came off the production line in the Euro 1 scheme.  Only the A models were painted in the white over gray scheme.  If you wanted to do an unusual color scheme for an A model, there is this:  Paint it in the white over gray scheme EXCEPT for the center wing box.  Paint that part in Euro 1.  One of the things they did with the B models was a new strengthened wing box.  The A models were not built with this, and from what I heard from people who had worked them since almost the beginning of their service, the AF turned down the strengthened wing box at the beginning in order to save money (there were already massive cost over runs on the program).  Fast forward 10 - 15 years and the AF decided it would be a good idea to have all of the A models refitted with the strengthened wing box.  The last year I was at Beale AFB I can remember seeing some of the C-5s flying with the Euro 1 painted new wing box while the rest of the aircraft was white over gray.  Beale is less than 100 air miles from Travis AFB where the C-5s are stationed so we would see them flying around Beale quite often.  If you do a search for photos of the C-5 from the late 80s you should be able to find one with this unusual scheme.

Later,

Dave

 

P.S.  Had a little time and found this picture from a Chinese web site showing what I'm talking about with the Euro 1 wing box.  It's in black and white, but you can see that there are variations in the color of the wing box:

 

1632000107o3pr9nr49o.jpg

Edited by e8n2
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9 hours ago, e8n2 said:

Not that I am aware of.  There was one difference between the A and B model engines that I was aware of, but it was internal only.  They changed the cabling for the engine vibe system but it didn't really matter as it was very unreliable.  On another point that I thought of last night after I got off-line.  All of the B models came off the production line in the Euro 1 scheme.  Only the A models were painted in the white over gray scheme.  If you wanted to do an unusual color scheme for an A model, there is this:  Paint it in the white over gray scheme EXCEPT for the center wing box.  Paint that part in Euro 1.  One of the things they did with the B models was a new strengthened wing box.  The A models were not built with this, and from what I heard from people who had worked them since almost the beginning of their service, the AF turned down the strengthened wing box at the beginning in order to save money (there were already massive cost over runs on the program).  Fast forward 10 - 15 years and the AF decided it would be a good idea to have all of the A models refitted with the strengthened wing box.  The last year I was at Beale AFB I can remember seeing some of the C-5s flying with the Euro 1 painted new wing box while the rest of the aircraft was white over gray.  Beale is less than 100 air miles from Travis AFB where the C-5s are stationed so we would see them flying around Beale quite often.  If you do a search for photos of the C-5 from the late 80s you should be able to find one with this unusual scheme.

Later,

Dave

 

P.S.  Had a little time and found this picture from a Chinese web site showing what I'm talking about with the Euro 1 wing box.  It's in black and white, but you can see that there are variations in the color of the wing box:

 

1632000107o3pr9nr49o.jpg

Huge help, I faintly remember when the C-5s had the upgrades. All the As were modified to B models and repainted correct? The two tone would make a neat one.

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12 minutes ago, busnproplinerfan said:

All the As were modified to B models and repainted correct?

No.  All of the A's remained A's, and yes, all were eventually repainted, either in Euro 1, or in the overall AMC Grey.  There were A's and B's occupying the same flight line at Dover AFB, all of which, as I recall, were painted in Euro 1.  The only obvious differences were the tail numbers. 

 

One time a bunch of us on our way to some unpleasant location East of Suez spent many hours in the Dover MAC terminal waiting for our bird to be fixed after the APU caught fire.  I was the troop commander (senior ranking officer) and had to ensure that we safeguarded the cargo, which included sensitive stuff. 

 

Long story short: we started from D-M on an A model, landed in Dover.  It caught fire, was "fixed," then broke again in mid-air.  So, we did a tail swap to an identical-looking B, transferring 80,000 lbs of cargo in the process.   Amazingly, we did not break down at Rhein-Main; but proceeded onward to our destination, then had to push our own cargo pallets onto the K-loader because our reception team didn't show up. 

 

Some logistics genius at D-M had decided we needed personal weapons to defend ourselves, so he loaded a pallet of M-16s and M-9s, which the local authorities didn't like at all, so they took it upon themselves to delay our entry into their country, and asked to search our sensitive cargo, which I refused to allow.  We made worked it out and it ended well.  

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8 minutes ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

No.  All of the A's remained A's, and yes, all were eventually repainted, either in Euro 1, or in the overall AMC Grey.  There were A's and B's occupying the same flight line at Dover AFB, all of which, as I recall, were painted in Euro 1.  The only obvious differences were the tail numbers. 

 

One time a bunch of us on our way to some unpleasant location East of Suez spent many hours in the Dover MAC terminal waiting for our bird to be fixed after the APU caught fire.  I was the troop commander (senior ranking officer) and had to ensure that we safeguarded the cargo, which included sensitive stuff. 

 

Long story short: we started from D-M on an A model, landed in Dover.  It caught fire, was "fixed," then broke again in mid-air.  So, we did a tail swap to an identical-looking B, transferring 80,000 lbs of cargo in the process.   Amazingly, we did not break down at Rhein-Main; but proceeded onward to our destination, then had to push our own cargo pallets onto the K-loader because our reception team didn't show up. 

 

Some logistics genius at D-M had decided we needed personal weapons to defend ourselves, so he loaded a pallet of M-16s and M-9s, which the local authorities didn't like at all, so they took it upon themselves to delay our entry into their country, and asked to search our sensitive cargo, which I refused to allow.  We made worked it out and it ended well.  

Sounds like a typical day in the logistics world, just with army fun mixed in. Did many riding in the back pay attention to the aircraft they were in?

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14 hours ago, busnproplinerfan said:

Huge help, I faintly remember when the C-5s had the upgrades. All the As were modified to B models and repainted correct? The two tone would make a neat one.

No.  The A models stayed As.  They were repainted into Euro 1 as they went through Depot level maintenance.  The same when going from Euro 1 to the overall gray scheme.  The conversion of A models to something else was one where two of the As, 68-213 and 68-216 had the troop compartment in the rear removed and the aft cargo doors were replaced with clamshell type doors to create a bigger opening in the rear for loading missles, mainly for NASA.  The C-141s handled the Minuteman missiles just fine after the B model conversion lengthened the fuselage.  The other A model conversion was when at least one A model and the two C models and were re-engined and are now known as M models.  Makes you wonder what the heck happened to the D through L model.  Don't ask me, it is something that really perturbs me.  The converted Bs and the one A model should be Ds and the Cs should be Es if you want to properly follow the designation system.

Later,

Dave

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1 hour ago, Sture Carlsson said:

I´m woundering if someone could help me with following questions concerning F-86 Sabre wings.

 

Are leding edge slats of different length on different slated wings?

 

What type of wings was used on USAF RF-86F?

Are you in the right topic? This one is for C-5 Galaxy.

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2 hours ago, Nigel Bunker said:

Are you in the right topic? This one is for C-5 Galaxy.

He is now.  I split it into its own topic :smartass:

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10 hours ago, e8n2 said:

No.  The A models stayed As.  They were repainted into Euro 1 as they went through Depot level maintenance.  The same when going from Euro 1 to the overall gray scheme.  The conversion of A models to something else was one where two of the As, 68-213 and 68-216 had the troop compartment in the rear removed and the aft cargo doors were replaced with clamshell type doors to create a bigger opening in the rear for loading missles, mainly for NASA.  The C-141s handled the Minuteman missiles just fine after the B model conversion lengthened the fuselage.  The other A model conversion was when at least one A model and the two C models and were re-engined and are now known as M models.  Makes you wonder what the heck happened to the D through L model.  Don't ask me, it is something that really perturbs me.  The converted Bs and the one A model should be Ds and the Cs should be Es if you want to properly follow the designation system.

Later,

Dave

Are the M model engines physically different? Maybe someone are some the Alpha-bits cereal when they were designated them.

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On 6/5/2021 at 11:39 AM, busnproplinerfan said:

with army fun mixed in. Did many riding in the back pay attention to the aircraft they were in?

We were all U.S. Air Force personnel.  Almost all were aircrew (there was one rated junior officer, and the others were enlisted), and acutely aware of what airframe we were on; we therefore expected it to break somewhere along the way.  The APU fire began after all of us had strapped into the jet.  The loadmaster/flight attendant said something casually about a "fire," and that triggered the quick understanding among us that this was not a casual matter at all!  We knew that fire and jet fuel are a poor combination, and insisted that we leave the aircraft NOW.  We managed to do this safely.  

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6 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said:

We were all U.S. Air Force personnel.  Almost all were aircrew (there was one rated junior officer, and the others were enlisted), and acutely aware of what airframe we were on; we therefore expected it to break somewhere along the way.  The APU fire began after all of us had strapped into the jet.  The loadmaster/flight attendant said something casually about a "fire," and that triggered the quick understanding among us that this was not a casual matter at all!  We knew that fire and jet fuel are a poor combination, and insisted that we leave the aircraft NOW.  We managed to do this safely.  

Guess it doesn’t take long to learn each aircraft’s personality.

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