C-141B Starlifter

C-141B Starlifter. President John F. Kennedy pushed a golden telegraph key at the White House that sent a signal to open the hanger doors in Marietta, Georgia, for the August 22, 1963, official rollout of the first C-141A Starlifter (61-2775). That aircraft flew for the first time on December 17, 1963, the 60th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight. On October 19, 1964, Military Airlift Command's predecessor, the Military Air Transport Service, accepted "The Spirit of Oklahoma City" (63-8078) at Tinker AFB, Oklahoma - the first starlifter of 284 purchased by the Air Force. As the first jet aircraft designed, engineered, and built to meet military troop and cargo carrier standards, the C-141 ushered in a new era in air mobility. Over time, operational use showed that the cargo area size and fuel capacity were restricting the C-141A's capability and range. These limitations were addressed in a special modification program that added 280 inches to the fuselage and a new air refueling capability. First tested in 1977, the "stretching" of 270 aircraft into redesignated C-141B-models produced an estimated overall capacity increase equal to the addition of 90 new aircraft to the fleet. This display C-141B is painted in the C-141A "white top" scheme it carried until its 1980 'B' Model conversion. This aircraft supported global airlift, airdrop, and aeromedical missions from 1966 to 1993. One mission of particular note, on February 12, 1973, this aircraft flew to Gia Lam Airport, near Hanoi, North Vietnam, on one of the first missions of Operation Homecoming, the repatriation of American prisoners of war. Today, this display honors all those who flew and supported the C-141 Starlifter, the workhorse of air mobility for over 40 years., This aircraft is on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force.