Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

The last C-141 retires to the USAF museum this weekend. Another great plane is gone, thanks for the memories. For most of us old guys the 141 was the main TDY transport.

F-16.net Sponsor

Yes it was, I have lost track of the number of days, weeks and months spent flying around the globe in that very (for the most part) aircraft.

I must have flown millions of miles collectively in that bird over twenty six years of active duty. Not to mention it was out (Thunderbird Team) main support aircraft, hell, we flew in it so much, we nicked named her " The Star".

Travelling primelary in that aircraft for three years straight every few days here and there, it did not take long to rack up the mileage on that assignment alone. It was a wonderful ride, dependable and lots of room, I really enjoyed it.

I salute a great bird, from my very first ride from the Phillippines to Danang, Vietnam (March 1971) it started a very long love affair, at one point, I spent more time in and around that aircraft then I did my own family (wife and kids). We on the "team" came to know it better then our homes for quite some time.

Thank god I only had to watch one burn, just once. About twenty minutes after I landed in Vietnam as I and my squadron were starting to in-process and watch it get unloaded, it got hit, killing many friends and totally destroying the aircraft. What a welcoem in country that was but after that, the aircraft always treated me with respect in my worldly travels, I always arrived alive (for that I will always be grateful) .

Mission Complete - Job Well Done - Salute C-141 - Rest Well, you earned it!

Ahh the stargazer.................uh I mean starlifer. Gonna miss the sound of those TF-33's. I got a chance to visit the Memphis unit and fly thier air refueling sim when they had 141's. I always remember hearing them talking to the approach/ departure controllers becaue they used the callsign "Elvis". They had an a/c that's serial # ended in 22, which would use "Elvis double duece" as a callsign. Sometimes when they'd get a frequency change the pilot would say (in his best Elvis impersonation) "Thank ya verrry much".

I knew it was about time for the ol' girl, but I'll miss seeing her fly nonetheless. The C-17 is going to be a great plane, but it has some extremely big shoes to fill. Glad that the bird that brought our boys home from Hanoi gets the 141 "Fini Flight".

C-141 guys do it sitting backwards! Wink

The only plane i have ever gotten airsick on (we were flying through bad weather from Osan to Misawa and the crew had the heat blasting ) . Still liked them though, especially the one that got all of us (about 60-70) out of PSAB in Oct 96' and back to Misawa. We had a nice tour back (Diego Garcia day 1 then Utapau for 4 days then Kadena /Misawa the last day) I hate to see them go.

I will miss the Starlifter. My first jet I worked on. Spent many a day and night in the Outboard Aux tanks fixing leaks. The Ole Gal did its did its job and then some. Salute

Forum Veteran Joined: Dec 25, 2003 - 10:03 PM Posts: 679

I'm pretty sure I saw one fly a few weeks ago, the sound was unmistakable.

I got to see her at Aviation Nation 2005 as part of the "Welcome Home for Vietnam Vets." She was on static display at the North end of the ramp with an American flag flying along with a POW - MIA flag right alongside Cool

. I'm sorry to see 'em go - they did their job well.

Forum Veteran Joined: Dec 25, 2003 - 10:03 PM Posts: 679

They have 'em all over the ramp at Sheppard, my dad's friend was a flight engineer in 'em.

shiz302 could be right,

shiz302 wrote:

I'm pretty sure I saw one fly a few weeks ago, the sound was unmistakable.

For the past few weeks I've noticed what I looked very suspiciously like a Starlifter coming and going from RAF Lyneham, UK. In the past I've seen civil carrier Ilyushin Il-76 'Candid' transporting gear to the 'sandbox'. Just wondering if this C-141 is helping ship gear to Afghanistan for the current UK deployment. Anyone confirm.

Is it possible there are a couple still in use???

The C-141 was a great airplane. It was the MAC and AMC workhorse (Did way more work and flew alot more than the C-5"FRED") My father was a C-141 pilot in the 1980's and flew during the Soviet-Afganistan campain. He brought alot of supplies to the Mujahadeen. Well the Starlifter was a great aircraft and did alot of work. It's really surprising that for how much work the C-141 did and how long it was in service, that it is so under appreciated. I mean I've never seen an Air Force documentary of film about Vietnam through today that mentions the C-141, I mean it flew 50 percent of the airlift misions in Desert Shield/Storm, and its never mentioned.Well it was a great plane and I luckily have had the pleasure of being around them. The C-17 is a good plane but its no C-141. All the high tech systems in it treat the pilots like fighter pilots, and you should never stoop a transport pilot down to a fighter pilots level.

Forum Veteran Joined: Dec 25, 2003 - 10:03 PM Posts: 679

JMAN wrote:

and you should never stoop a transport pilot down to a fighter pilots level.

Can't wait til the boys get ahold of this one. Cool

TC wrote:

C-141 guys do it sitting backwards! Wink

The "Buff's EW Gunner's do it backwards too!

shiz302 wrote:

JMAN wrote:

and you should never stoop a transport pilot down to a fighter pilots level.

Can't wait til the boys get ahold of this one. Cool

Man, you need a target licence for a comment like that. Hunting licences are free.

Wow you guys really can't take a joke. I feel sorry for you. Rolling Eyes

Forum: Military Aircraft of the Cold War

Goodbye C-141