C-17 prototype retires to US Air Force museum (First C-17 Flies to Retirement Home)

A prototype of a widely used Air Force transport plane is coasting into retirement in Ohio after a two-decade career that included appearances in six movies.

The Dayton Daily News reports the hand-crafted prototype of the C-17 Globemaster III made its final landing Wednesday at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. The prototype will go on display at the museum near Dayton in June.

Today, about 215 of the planes are used to transport troops and cargo in locations such as Afghanistan and Iraq. They're also often used to carry injured soldiers to hospitals.

The C-17 prototype first flew in 1991 and was long used as a test plane. It also appeared in Hollywood films, including the "Transformers" and "Iron Man" movies.


Source: DAYTON, Ohio — The Associated Press - Posted : Thursday Apr 26, 2012

Photo: The Air Force’s first C-17 cargo plane has officially retired, arriving at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday. This Globemaster was basically a handmade prototype, and flew for the first time on September 15, 1991, nine months after the first Gulf War. The C-17 fleet has become the service’s go-to airlifter, and not just for grunts and gear: early Friday, after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s airplane broke down in Chile, the SecDef and his party shifted to a C-17 for the long flight home (By TIME Staff battleland.blogs.time.com)

(4/27/2012)