General Aviation

US Military offers various career opportunities in aviation for both men and women, whether enlisted or as commissioned officers.In my opinion, military aviation careers are a great stepping stone for similar jobs in the civil aviation industry. Most military aviators, whether they are pilots, maintenance technicians, navigation specialists, flight dispatchers, aviation logistics support professionals, and so on, upon separation from the service end up taking on equivalent jobs functions in the civil aviation sector.

U.S. Air Force offers the greatest flavor of aviation specific training and employment opportunities; to fly as a pilot or to work as an aircraft maintenance technician, air traffic controller, electronic or meteorological technician, just to name a few. The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps also offer aviation jobs similar to those in the Air Force. Army aviation is mostly connected with the operation and maintenance of helicopters and subsonic light airplanes. The Army hires flight-crews, ground service crew, and weather specialists to support its operations. And there is not a shortage of demand of equivalent employment opportunities in the civil aviation sector. The U.S. Coast Guard operates light and medium size aircraft (both airplanes and helicopters) for search and rescue purposes.

The U.S. Military Services employ civilians as well for various careers in aviation, such as aircraft mechanics, engineers, technicians, and general office workers (i.e. secretaries, office admins, and typists). These civilian jobs are classified as the Federal Civil Services, and employees perform many of the same tasks and receive the same wages and benefits as their counterparts in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other Federal departments and agencies.

Recently, the US government has decided to discontinue placing any further orders for the C -17 Globemaster III aircraft. However the competition, C-5 Galaxy aircraft are to be ordered instead. When I heard about this, it really got my attention and I spent some time researching information about both the aircraft. There is a lot of information on various websites, not to mention Wikipedia. I have compiled some very concise information here in this article for your review. And of course, if this get’s your attention as well, you may search the internet for related information yourself.

C-17 is manufactured in the United States by the world famous Boeing company, formerly, McDonnell Douglas. The C-5 is manufactured in United States as well by a well known competition (at least in the defense sector) Lockheed. The plant for C-17 is in California, even though the Boeing company headquarters are in Seattle and the defense segment headquarters are in the state of Missouri. C-17 carries on the name of two previous United States military cargo aircraft, the C-74 Globemaster and the C-124 Globemaster II.

Both the C-17 and the C-5 are used for rapid strategic airlift of troops and cargo to main operating bases or forward operating bases throughout the world. Both have the ability to rapidly deploy a combat unit to a potential battle area and sustain it with on-going battle and cargo supplies. Both the C-17 and C-5 are also capable of performing tactical airlift, medical evacuation and airdrop missions.

The C-17 Globemaster III is relatively a much younger and newer aircraft (almost by 25 years) compared to it’s competitor C-5 Galaxy. The C-17 was introduced on July 14th, 1993 and the C-5 in June of 1070. The respective 1st flights of C-17 Globemaster III and the C-5 Galaxy were on September 15th, 1991 and June 30th, 1968.

Boeing is currently carrying out this advertisement campaign trying to gather signed support from the members of the general public to present to the US Congress so they can re-consider their decision against the C-17 Globemaster III. Hopefully, the armed forces, especially the US air force veterans (VA) and others, will help sign this petition and force the congress to review the case of C-17 again.

By the way, C-17s are currently in service with the US Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Canadian Forces Air Command, NATO Heavy Airlift Wing, Qatar Air Force, United Arab Emirates, and UK Royal Air Force. C-5 on the other hand, is exclusively and US Air Force aircraft.

I have already signed the petition, as I think it would be the right thing to do. I encourage all of you guys to the same as well. If you have any questions about this, you can post your comments below.

A joint U.S. Air Force and Lockheed Martin flight crew flying a C-5M Super Galaxy strategic transport claimed 41 world aeronautical records in one flight on September 13.

The flight from Dover AFB broke eight existing world marks and established standards in 33 other categories where there had been no previous record attempt. The records were set in the Class C-1.S, Jet category for altitude in horizontal flight, altitude with payload, time-to-climb, time-to-climb with payload and greatest payload to 2,000 meters. The aircraft carried a payload of more than 80,000 kg (the actual measured payload weight was 176,610 lb) to an altitude of more than 41,100 feet in 23 minutes, 59 seconds.

The Class C-1.S Jet category is for aircraft weighing from 250,000 kilograms (551,155 pounds) to 300,000 kg (661,386 lb). The C-5M had a takeoff weight of 649,680 lb, which included fuel, crew weight, necessary equipment, and the payload, which was loaded on 29 standard U.S. military 463L cargo pallets. All C-5s are capable of carrying 36 pallets.

The flight set a new record for altitude with payload of 41,188 feet. It also set marks for time-to-climb and time-to-climb with 35,000 kg (77,162 lb), 40,000 kg (88,185 lb), 45,000 kg (99,208 lb), 50,000 kg (110,231 lb), 60,000 kg (132,277 lb), 70,000 kg (154,323 lb), and 80,000 kg payload. The flight took 4 minutes, 13 seconds to reach 3,000 m (9,843 ft) altitude; 7 min., 27 sec to get to 6,000 m (19,685 ft); 13 min., 8 sec. to fly to 9,000 m (29,528 ft); and 23 min., 59 sec to fly to 12,000 meters (39,371 ft).

The flight also broke existing class records for altitude in horizontal flight (41,116 ft) and altitude with 35,000 kg, 40,000 kg, 45,000 kg, 50,000 kg, 60,000 kg, and 70,000 kg payload (41,188 ft). The mission broke the record for greatest payload (80,036 kg/176,610 lbs) to 2,000 meters (6,562 ft) as well.

All of the records will first be certified as United States national records by the National Aeronautic Association, the nation’s oldest aviation organization. The NAA, based in Arlington, Va., is the U.S. representative to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the sanctioning body for all world aviation records. Formal approval of the C-5M records by the Lausanne, Switzerland-based FAI is expected to take several weeks.

Source: Lockheed Martin