C-5M Super Galaxy

Heading into a war zone with the US Air Force was an eye-opening experience to say the least. I had the privilege of flying with an amazing flight crew from Dover Air Force Base on this world record setting mission onboard a C-5M Super Galaxy to deliver Apache AH-64 attack helicopters from Dover to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan (a world record setting flight for speed/distance/weight with mid-air refuelling). We filmed over the course of a few months, including amazing access from Lockheed Martin in Marietta, Georgia, air refuelling crews at 916th Air Wing, 9th Airlift Squadron at Dover AFB and soldiers on the ground at Bagram. As we approached Bagram under the cover of darkness, I filmed with the flight crew in the cargo hold as they prepared the C-5M to land in a combat zone. We put on flak jackets, went to red and turned all external aircraft lights off so we could land like ghost… only the sound of the massive C-5 engines to be heard somewhere above in the night sky. I headed for the cockpit during the final ‘tactical approach and landing’ maneuver which means you spiral downward from a high-altitude directly above the runway instead of long predictable glide slopes where you’re vulnerable to enemy rocket attacks. Our pilot, Captain Scott Korell, landed the massive C-5M as smooth as butter. I was scheduled to film at Bagram for just three days, but a lack of available aircraft to fly my crew out due to active combat situations meant we stayed a week before departing at zero dark thirty on a last-minute flight onboard a C-17 to Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Tech Specs

Power Plant: Four F-138-GE100 General Electric engines
Thrust: 51,250 pounds per engine
Wingspan: 222 ft 9 in
Length: 247 ft 10 in
Height: 65 ft 1 in
Cargo Compartment:
Height: 13 ft 6 in
Width: 19 ft
Length: 143 ft, 9 in
Maximum Cargo: 281,001 pounds
Maximum Takeoff Weight: 840,000 pounds
Speed: 518 mph
Unrefueled Range of C-5M: Approximately 5,524 statute miles (4,800 nautical miles) with 120,000 pounds of cargo; approximately 7,000 nautical miles with no cargo on board.
Crew: Pilot, co-pilot, two flight engineers and three loadmasters