C17 Globemaster III Stallion

36 Squadron, on approach at Amberley RAAF Base during the 2008 Defence Force Airshow.

This mammoth STOL transport aircraft is replacing the RAAF's aging fleet of C130 Hercules.

View all photos taken: Sunday, 5th October 2008, This photo: 12:27pm

Previous Photo: F-111 Dump-n-Burn
Next Photo: BAe Hawk 127

Comments

  • beachut (John) said:
    Great shot david...They were up here last thursday...The C17 and the Fa18's...must have been on their way to the show
  • David de Groot said:
    Quite possibly John, although the C17s are based in Amberley, but I dare say they get around a fair bit.
    I do think that calling them a Stallion is going a bit far, maybe a whale with wings is more appropriate ;-)
  • obLiterated said:
    I don't think they're replacing the C-130s - they have very different operational characteristics. I think the plan is to retire some of the older Hercs and let the C17s take up that load, but a C130 can do things that'd scare a C-117 witless :))
  • David de Groot said:
    I dunno, did you see this thing land, it's quite impressive. Same short landing and takeoff of the C130 and a bigger payload.
  • obLiterated said:
    I saw one at Avalon a few years ago - they're definitely unbelievably capable aircraft, but the Herc's getting in and out of places that'd be way to small for this baby - just like the Caribou can do things that the Herc just isn't capable of.
  • suburbanvoodoo said:
    I think these are to enhance the capabilities of the Hercs (we only bought 4)
    We only bought the 130J's in 1999.
  • Jon (road tripping the US) said:
    Those things are huge - nice shot of it coming in.
  • David de Groot said:
    You might both be right here - I could only find this announcement in the RAAF News but it seems to suggest they'll be an expansion of capabilities rather than a full replacement.
    Yes, they are indeed - not as big as a C5 but still pretty large indeed.
  • SUSANFRIESEN_99 said:
    I live near Vandenberg AFB and have always loved military photography. You've done an excellent job capturing these RAF planes, David! I will have to see how to upload some of my Fleet Week airshow pictures from San Francisco Bay into flickr.
    I am having trouble getting my Costco photo software to upload.
    I love your collections! Susan
  • David de Groot said:
    Thanks Susan. :)
  • Peter Hegarty said:
    You've gone square Dave :)
  • David de Groot said:
    Thanks to a couple of fat heads that got in the way on the both sides of the frame ;-)
  • [ Kane ] said:
    Nice Dave! great shot love the hills and the timing of the landing gear!
  • David de Groot said:
    As you would have seen, there was plenty of time to line up the shot ;-)
  • [ Kane ] said:
    Yeah fully!