Travis C-5M flies into aviation record books

by Airman 1st Class Amber Carter
60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

4/3/2015 - TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- In the early morning hours of April 3, a C-5M Super Galaxy aircrew from Travis Air Force Base, California, put the aircraft's capabilities to the test.

The eight-person crew, with members of the 60th Air Mobility Wing's 22nd Airlift Squadron and the 349th AMW's 312th AS, accomplished their goal of establishing standards in 45 previously unset categories. The aircrew claimed records in the Class C-1.T jet category for altitude in horizontal flight, altitude with payload, time-to-climb, time-to-climb with payload and greatest payload to 9,000 meters.

"The successful completion of this mission exemplifies both the great teamwork required by the whole team to keep Travis' aircraft flying and the fabulous strategic mobility capabilities the C-5M brings our combatant commanders around the world," said Col. Joel Jackson, 60th AMW commander. "Thanks to everyone who contributed to this powerful showcase of Travis' culture of excellence."

The C-5M was loaded with pallets, fuel and the aircrew for a total of 731,220 pounds, including the weight of the plane. 

"We took on approximately 265,000 pounds of cargo and our goal was to climb as fast as we could at 3,000, 6,000 and 9,000 meters," said Maj. Jon Flowers, 22nd Airlift Squadron chief of standardization and evaluation and pilot for the flight. "We got up to an altitude of approximately 37,000 feet before we ran out of performance."

Among the records achieved were altitude in horizontal flight at 37,000 feet, altitude with payload of 265,000 pounds and time it takes to climb at 27.5 minutes.

The Super Galaxy has now unofficially claimed a total of 86 world aeronautical records, surpassing the B-1B Lancer at 83 records.

All records will be certified by the National Aeronautic Association, the nation's oldest aviation organization. Formal certifications of the C-5M records are expected to take several weeks.

The new ability of the C-5M, when compared to the A, B and C models, to reach speeds at a faster rate, is critical for the Air Force mission.

"The model before this was performance limited," Flowers said. "It did not have the climb capability or the cargo capability. The C-5M has been changing the game for the warfighter and tonight we made that point to put the capabilities in the record books."

From aerial porters to maintainers, active duty and reservists from Team Travis made a joint effort to effectively achieve this goal.

"We're honored to play a role in this historic demonstration," said Col. Matthew Burger, 349th AMW commander. "The new capabilities of the C-5M make America better equipped to the global challenges of the 21st Century."