The unofficial nickname of the USA's largest cargo plane might surprise you
America's aviators have long carried unofficial nicknames for the aircraft they love and the aircraft they hate. Some are better known than others. For example, everyone knows the A-10 Thunderbolt II as the "Warthog" because when it first entered service it was not considered a very attractive fuselage. There's also "BUFF" (Big, Ugly, Fat F * cker), this name was given to the B-52 Stratofortress with a bit of affection.
However, nicknames are not only used to fight aircraft. The C-5 Galaxy, the Air Force's largest cargo carrier, bears a nickname for itself: FRED or "Damn Ridiculous Economic / Environmental Disaster" by the men and women who take care of the USAF fleet.
The C-5 is an incredible aircraft. In addition to being able to carry an entire C-130 cargo plane, it can carry 75 passengers, pilots, a flight crew and (possibly) a partridge with a whole pear tree. And it can carry all of these with 12 internal wing tanks that can refuel in flight.
But powering this beast takes a lot of fuel. This is where the "Environmental Disaster" episode comes into play.
The other reason for his nickname is much less funny. It costs more than $ 78,000 per hour to fly the plane. And since it's been in the current form since 1995, they're getting older and needing more and more maintenance. Meanwhile, the much newer C-17 flies for about $ 23,000 per hour. It carries less cargo, but it transports that cargo more efficiently.
Development of the C-5 Galaxy cost $ 1 billion than the United States expected. This is "Economic Disaster". Still, when you need to get a lot for the fight, the C-5 is an impressive show to watch.
When first launched, the weight of the C-5 pushed the wings so hard that they tended to crack before the army paid off them. As the C-5 program was upgraded, its wings also rose. But some aviators say it's been a long time and the plane starts to wear out with age. One Reddit user said, "Sometimes the hatches don't close properly while the plane is trying to pressurize. In cases where they land and can't fix it properly, they'll wrap a few T-shirts around a rope and soak it with water. Then they'll fill it into the gap in the hatch cover and the water will freeze, thus closing the leak to create pressure on the plane. . "
Mission pace, lack of parts, and crew change transforms the Galaxy into a Hangar Queen.
But the C-5 has been a staple in nearly every US venture since its inception. C-5 from the fighting in Vietnam (yes, Vietnam) in Afghanistan was there. And the FRED-Ex is likely to be at work for a long time, as the program has just completed a major overhaul that provides aircraft with new engines, skeleton upgrades and avionics.
