So there I am, out in the pasture hitting golf balls with the Young'un like every other red-blooded American grandpa, when we heard the sound of a jet flying low and slow. Luckily I was carrying my iPhone, so I pulled it out and fired up the camera, just in time to see this monster clear the trees to the south east.
I snagged a couple of shots, which gives you some idea of how slow it was going.
I remember when these first went into the air in the early 70's. GE in Cincinnati made the engines, so the Air Force flew one into Lunken Airport so the guys who made the engines could see the final product. They were allowing folks to walk through the plane, so it was a BIG deal.
Dad took us over to see the largest thing to ever take to the air, and we couldn't get near it. Not just the plane; we couldn't even get near the airport.
But I do remember the sight of it from the road; surrounded by people who looked to be about as tall as the wheels. EVERYTHING around it was dwarfed, including the hangers, meant for small aircraft. Aircraft that could danm near fly through the cargo bay of a C-5.
While I was in the Air Force I spent the first couple of years on a SAC base, and didn't think I would see anything larger than a B-52 that could actually take to the air.
The I went to a MAC base, and ran into the C-5 again, up close.
WOW; what a massive mountain of magnesium! To think there is enough power in the universe to get this thing in the air empty, much less loaded with 135 tons of men and material.
If you don't think this is a great country, seek out a C-5 and watch it take off. That is technological might my friend.
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