C141 Starlifter

[davebasing]

I promised/threatened a piece on the venerable Lifter with some of photos I've taken over the years. The prototype was 61-2775, which I graphed on approach to its then base at Wright Patterson, Ohio in 1989 and then when preserved at Dover, Delaware.





Lifters were originally bare metal as these show - Biggin Hill Air Fair 1967 & Mildenhall





Then they became white tops - Greenham Common & Mildenhall plus Frankfurt (I know the Lifters are distant but its a good excuse for a KC97L picture)





Then they were stretched by the addition of 2 fuselage plugs and became C141Bs (and later C141Cs but this was mainly an avionics upgrade) - Mildenhall again



Then they were camo - taken at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland & Mildenhall




And finally grey



Then the axe fell and most were dispatched to AMARC in Tucson for storage, including the second aircraft built NC141 61-2776 which deserved a better fate







The last turkey in the shop was, as mentioned in my earlier post, 66-0160 which lingered as the last example in AMARC until May 2013



Then finally to the adjoining yards for smelting



A number survive in museums including two in the State in which they were built - 60186 at Marietta (the prototype YC141B), Georgia; 50248 at Warner Robbins, Georgia, plus the final aircraft built 67-0166 which was a VIP aircraft and now preserved at Scott AFB, Illinois. Thus the first and last Lifters were preserved. Only one civil version was produced (as the L-300) which I first saw at the Paris show of 1967 and last saw stored with NASA at Moffet Field, California a couple of years ago






I mentioned the Suffolk memorial to the crew who were lost inbound to Mildenhall in 1976. By irony another Lifter was lost in Greenland on the same day. I finally managed to see all but 9 of the C141 production.

I'm sure others (including "Starlifter") probably have better shots.

[christoff]

Very nice Dave, a pleasure to view. Have you got a pic of the legendary 40612,the numbers that graced every flat surface on the QB and surrounding infrastructure.

[davebasing]

Thanks Christoff. Your wish is my command. Missed a bit off as its was the days of fixed lenses and if it got too close...

[Jeff]

Living right under 28L I remember the starlifter being not regular but a frequent visitor to LHR, i never took mil in those days as couldnt afford the price of a military book to log them as i never really saw much mil

[christoff]

Thank you Dave, just looking back through my books I have only seen a small handful of the majestic Lifters and 40612 remained un-seen.

[graham]

A stunning set of shots Dave and great history, thanks so much for posting here for everyone to read

[lordevanelpuss]

Jan 24, 2016 15:06:30 GMT christoff said:

Thank you Dave, just looking back through my books I have only seen a small handful of the majestic Lifters and 40612 remained un-seen.

Likewise with me. It's good to know that I wasn't the only 'dot-spotter' (as I was in the early 1980s) that never heard that one call up on the radio.

[graham]

Jeff, our hobby was so "under catered for" back then as far as reference books were concerned. Of course there was the annual edition of CAM but I don't recall a MAM back then. All my foreign military went into a hard backed ruled note book with a page per country. I also had similar hard back logbooks for any airliners not in CAM, foreign GA & Biz, US GA & biz, and Brit military. After the trip to Washington and Baltimore in 1972 with dave allum and keithh, I also started a book for everything logged on that trip. Now with the likes of Air Britain and LAAS, we have all those books at our fingertips.

Just as a side note, I have every edition of CAM except for the first edition published in 1950. There are plenty of reprints around to buy but few originals.

[denwil189]

Graham - you have certainly re-kindled my memories, my records go back to 1950 when I lived under the approach to Thorney Island and riding my Bike to Tangmere and spending days by the fire gate, when it was all recorded in note books, which I still have, be it now in folders and after many years now on the PC. Trips to Heathrow and Gatwick were by car with Dad or eventually by train. Photography started in 1974 with 35mm slide, thank goodness for digital.
Good days for the variety of different aircraft types.

[graham]

Hi there Den

I grew up in Reading and most Saturdays would see me taking the double decker bus to LHR, which deposited you on the A4 by the entrance to the tunnel. Once in the central airport area it was all day atop the QB. The other option was taking the SLOW ( and I mean slow, it stopped at every station along the way..) train from Reading General to LGW, it took about two and three quarter hours. I have no idea if that service still runs but if it does, it probably takes half that time now.

I saved hard when I was 13-14 and bought myself a Waltham 1049 airband radio. My parents had by that time moved to Wiltshire but as now, we were right beneath LHR transatlantic inbounds and westbound OTTs. The Waltham gave all the call signs but I had to ring the airlines to find the reggies or failing that, the LAAS monthly review usually tied in all the IDs. Great memories of a time when all you really had at your disposal were a pair on bins, the CAM and either an airband radio or a five quid converter.

[Jeff]

Stillruns mate, one of the stops is north camp, just a five min walk from
Me :-)

[christoff]

Many happy hours spent on the QB,and then the shout of "lifter over the top" and all bins being trained skywards and the rapid retuning of radios in a vague hope of getting a call sign....aaaah those were the days !!

[lordevanelpuss]

Jan 24, 2016 17:02:59 GMT graham said:

Hi there Den

I grew up in Reading and most Saturdays would see me taking the double decker bus to LHR, which deposited you on the A4 by the entrance to the tunnel. Once in the central airport area it was all day atop the QB. The other option was taking the SLOW ( and I mean slow, it stopped at every station along the way..) train from Reading General to LGW, it took about two and three quarter hours. I have no idea if that service still runs but if it does, it probably takes half that time now.

I saved hard when I was 13-14 and bought myself a Waltham 1049 airband radio. My parents had by that time moved to Wiltshire but as now, we were right beneath LHR transatlantic inbounds and westbound OTTs. The Waltham gave all the call signs but I had to ring the airlines to find the reggies or failing that, the LAAS monthly review usually tied in all the IDs. Great memories of a time when all you really had at your disposal were a pair on bins, the CAM and either an airband radio or a five quid converter.

In my case it was Air Scotland for any trails that weren't seen at LHR. If I was on the Queen's building, after it had closed down in the evening, you could go down into terminal 2 (then the foreign European airline terminal) and certain airlines would run those flight numbers you managed to get through their computers and come up with the reg at the end of the day for you, otherwise it was a few weeks wait for my next Air Scotland to arrive.

[graham]

Nice to hear from you m'lud...;0)

[zz]

Thanks Dave, that's a really good read with great pics.
As a child going to airshows in the 80s, I always loved the Starlifter.
I was only 31 when they retired the last of them in 2006, so didn't see the huge numbers of them that Dave and some of you guys will have seen. But did a quick check and am pleasantly surprised that I have seen 73, so just over a quarter of the 285 built.
Most of these were seen at Mildenhall.

I really wanted to visit Davis Monthan when there were so may present, but too late now! There are several preserved in the US that I need so maybe I'll add to that total one day.
But great pics again- love the Monthan one with 34 visible!

Cheers

[lordevanelpuss]

Jan 24, 2016 18:14:57 GMT graham said:

Nice to hear from you m'lud...;0)

My pleasure, hopefully I'll be able to make it to Popham for the Jodel event at Popham in April.