117 - C-17 Globemaster III

[@gregory.chalenko]

I started listening to this episode only because the movie I'm working on now has a C-17 in it, but the interview turned out to be so much more fun that I thought it would be! Great storytelling and a wealth of information about the aircraft!

[@ShawnPossible]

Had the privilege to meet Voodoo on 2 separate occasions. An amazing person. Such a joy to talk to.

[@thunderace4588]

Thank you for making this interesting and informative episode of your podcast available on KZbin for us.

[@yes_head]

I live just northwest of McChord. It's a fantastic sight every time a C-17 flies over the house. You can hear them coming from quite a distance.

[@c17nav]

I need to add a little about some points that were discussed. - They mentioned Block upgrades. Often these upgrades are about absolutely new or upgraded capabilites of existing hardware, principally of the avionics suite. Other blocks can be improvements to the existing equipment, such as newer software versions that fix anomalies or accommodate expanded mission requirements. - They mentioned foreign countries' C-17 fleets. Much of their differences from the US fleet derive from those countries' communication requirements for their C-17s to be compatible their other military or civilian radios.

[@benjaminperez7328]

Lots of fun to jump out of at Benning. WHOOSH!

[@BKetch]

C-17 is such a cool plane! I loved it since I first saw it in an air show. Glad to have it on the show!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

How was the airshow? Have never been to one with the Moose there...

[@BKetch]

@@FighterPilotPodcast really? That surprises me that you have never seen a C17 demonstration. It's cool. The backing up is so interesting to see from such a big plane. It actually gets going pretty fast. And seeing a big plane being tossed around so effortlessly (it appears).

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@BKetch I know, terrible. Need to get out more. Sounds amazing!

[@BKetch]

@@FighterPilotPodcast well you are too busy flying. An air show to you might just seem like a trade show.

[@adisura9904]

Yay! Still haven't got my hands on a sukhoi pilot though. Will be trying to get someone till i do. Also India has the biggest C17 fleet outside the US. What a beautiful aircraft it is.

[@theeeeeed2631]

Dude I’ve been wanting a cargo plane and here it is thanks man

[@jeffreyphipps5099]

I was a firefighter at Charleston AFB in 1992 when the C-17 was delivered. What can the C-17 do that a C-5 cannot? Not build four hours of extra maintenance into each stop. What most folks don’t know is that the first five C-17s came with five different door configurations. We at the FD had to have a Tail Number to know how to egress the aircraft. I was also on the Reliability, Maintainability & Availability Evaluation (RM&AE) at Barstow-Daggett Airport & Ft. Irwin, CA. Two C-141s brought equipment from the East Coast to (pre-Realignment) March AFB. Three C-130s shuttled said equipment to Ft. Irwin. One C-17 picked up that load and took it back. I have the dubious ‘honor’ of being the second unauthorized Space Available passenger to utilize the GMIII.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Great history, and congrats?! 🤣😂

[@c17nav]

Before the first five production aircraft were delivered to the USAF, they were also used as Flight Test articles at KEDW. Some systems were in a temporary configuration until retrofit after delivery.

[@adisura9904]

Condolences from my side to your friend's family. May the Gods bless you and them.

[@ja37d-34]

Great episiode! Nice to hear a female voice and Voodoo seems very competent as well as a nice person. Glad to hear more about the C-17, interesting aircraft and we (Sweden) is the biggest user of the leased under the European Heavy Lift Wing or whatever.. I happen to have an ex service buddy who became a pilot there. Cool stuff.

[@Favk21]

Not to diss cargo planes, but this was way more interesting episode than I thought it would be.

[@AB-bu8ti]

It's so refreshing to bump into Jello (presumably) commenting here after having listened to almost every episode on spotify :P

[@Orlok1970]

Good to hear your voice again Jell-O! Love the podcasts! 🌞

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thanks, Robert. "The show must go on," they say...

[@Orlok1970]

@@FighterPilotPodcast take it easy fella 🏖️

[@Orlok1970]

What I meant to say is that I really enjoy listening to Jell-O because he always sounds like the nicest guy in the world, pleasant, respectful, grounded (no pun intended) and well rounded! Just a cool dude! Thanks for sharing your wisdom, knowledge and experience!

[@vincentaiello3574]

My pleasure,@@Orlok1970 (this is Jell-O)

[@hilaigofast1053]

There are several memorable trips I've made in military vehicles. First dive on a submarine, submarine angles and dangles a short time later; Crossing the border of Kuwait going North in an unarmored humvee; reenlisting flying over Kuwait in a Blackhawk (my last reenlistment); taking a C-17 from Kuwait to Doha for a three day R&R, and back to Kuwait, again in a C-17, five days later. Now, if Jello would arrange a flight in the backseat of an F/A-18, my life would be complete.

[@johnb7490]

Good looking bird. Gr8 interview as always. Sorry about your brother.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thanks, John.

[@thomasbell1684]

I love how episode 117 is the c-17 which runs the P&W-117!!!! -Moose Maintainer

[@Grhb778]

Great episode! Have you considered doing a C-47 Skytrain/Dakota episode?

[@greenfire6924]

When Voodoo mentioned Ubering US Army Airborne Infantry from Alaska to Australia on a 17.5 hour mission she was most likely referring to one of the reoccurring "Talisman Sabre" operations. Talisman Sabers are multi-national/multi-combat arms and waaaay to extensive to describe here. The 4th Brigade Combat Team (aka: Spartans) is part of the 25th Infantry Division (aka: Tropic Lightning, aka: Electric Strawberry). Because the Spartans rigged parachutes and combat gear in-flight there would have been substantially less than 102 Airborne joes and janes on board Voodoo's jet. Example: (7) C 17s drop US Army unit from Alaska into Australia - KZbin

[@mikecohen3738]

So around 7 years or so ago I was part of a record-setting evacuation flight out of the City of Legaspi in the Philippines on a mercy flight of about 1 hour with well over 570 people aboard all evacuees from the effects of typhoon Haiain (local name Yolanda) from a C17 flight group out of joint Hickham. That evacuation and HADR mission saved lives and so many others a different kind of angel flight to bring people out of harm's way. Thanks to all who got us out. Aim High and Fly Right.

[@cooziehiker]

Good show, great interview. Very interesting aircraft. Keep up the good work. Can't wait to know what may be coming on the 14th, of September.......what could it be??????

[@arielalvarez5553]

Great interview as usual. It has the same cargo weight capacity as an MD-11F, but she can land in only 4000 ft runway, plus the ramp!!!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Impressive for sure.

[@PatsFanGermany]

I could be mistaken, but isn't the C-17 the plane the heroes of the SEAL Team TV series ride into battle on?

[@spacebear49]

C-5's DID operate in and out of Kandahar. We saw a fair amount of both.

[@MaxVerslappin48]

Lol your not gonna have a C-17 pilot admit much good of a C5. C5 can also land at austere and dirt runways. Its just a matter of length

[@spacebear49]

@@MaxVerslappin48 that's what she said. 😁 I can see merits to both. The C17 is (for the most part) a lot newer and can get into smaller fields. But the C5 can hold more.

[@crazycoolmachinesbyisaacve9024]

Please do a podcast/ interview with the C-5 galaxy

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

It's on the list.

[@t-stoff]

is the ref min 27 on the maneuver theory a reminiscent of Cor. Boyd studies?

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Col Boyd’s studies in to maneuver potential at the different weights, altitudes, air speeds, configurations, etc…is similar, so very likely there’s some correlation between the two. However, his studies were for fighter missions/performance, so still some difference in purpose, if that all makes sense?

[@t-stoff]

@@FighterPilotPodcast just finished reading "Boyd's book" and yeah in a way it makes sense that some sort of adaptation of that principle had prevail, specially given Voodoos context (weapons school) and her references on max preforming an aircraft (even if it's a heavy). Really interesting! Thanks for the reply! Looking forward to the next episode! keep it up:)

[@chrise2621]

Love watching the c17s fly out of mccoord.

[@Orlok1970]

The C17 was just the warm up act...can we have an episode on the C5 Galaxy one day please? That is truly an awesome machine....by the way C17 makes a sneaky appreance in Scairio 2, near the beginning some special forces guys do a HAHO/HALO jump off the tail ramp!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

It’s on our list, don’t you worry!

[@Jdogflan35]

Podcast starts at 9:50

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

No it doesn’t, it starts at the beginning.

[@APV878]

That was great! I still remember the buzz in the mid 90s when the '17 came into service, and, I love seeing them at airshows, it's an impressive beast! And yes I think you should interview more women for the program.

[@MaxVerslappin48]

Would love to hear a C-5 Pilot on here one day! It has a rich history and very interesting stories to tell.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Fun fact: the C-5 was my very first interview way back in 2017 on layover with my captain when I was a brand new airline pilot. I sat on it awhile and listened later, realizing my interview skills had improved rapidly and that one was just too rough.

[@MaxVerslappin48]

​@@FighterPilotPodcast please please please release it or get a C-5 guy back on here. I love your podcast and C-5 is close to my heart. Dad was a FE on the Galaxy for 20+ years.

[@KuostA]

u should have asked her about the Alaska display practice incident.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Never heard of such a thing

[@KuostA]

are u being serious? I can't tell. @@FighterPilotPodcast

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@KuostA yes, I’m serious. What did I miss?

[@KuostA]

uh....the C17 crashing after takeoff when practicing its flight display, killing everyone on board, due to overcontrolling by the PIC. I'm surprised you're not aware of this? @@FighterPilotPodcast

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@KuostA yeah, missed that one. Unfortunate.

[@Jdogflan35]

How does someone who doesn’t fly fighters get a call sign

[@AllDay3090]

As of 2023, ironically, the C-17 is our most potent standoff bomber. You simply load a C-17 with Rapid Dragon System pallets and drop 45 JASSM or LRASM out the back at once. The brilliant part is we have tons of C17's and they don't need to be remodeled to work with Rapid Dragon. Imagine 20 C17's taking off from different locations and dropping 900 cruise missiles towards China's Navy and coast from 20 different angles. That's the CCP's worst nightmare, I betcha.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

As long as it’s a permissive environment. A handful of enemy fighters could complicate things.

[@AllDay3090]

@@FighterPilotPodcast Same problems bombers have to deal with right? Except bombers can't carry 45 cruise missiles, a C17 with Rapid Dragon can.

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

@@AllDay3090 true, especially compared to the B-52. Obviously the B-1 and -2 have speed and stealth advantages.

[@AllDay3090]

@@FighterPilotPodcast JetZero's blended wing cargo aircraft design that the Air Force just put some money into could be stealth cargo plane, stealth troop transport, stealth aerial refueler, and a stealth bomber with the Rapid Dragon System all in one aircraft. Rapid Dragon might not even be intended for C17's and C130's, they might be intended for the next generation heavy planes like the blended wing.

[@pete_mitchell]

The cargopilot podcast

[@gregmaupin8929]

HALO is the correct term, HIHO is what the seven dwarves sang 😂 sorry it made me chuckle.

[@104thMaverick]

They are both correct. HIHO is High Altitude High Opening and HALO is the Low Opening version. 😉

[@gregmaupin8929]

@@104thMaverick I had forgotten thanks

[@c17nav]

@@104thMaverick HAHO

[@johnb7490]

Voodoo would make a great role model for young women

[@melvinelder3587]

There’s an F-117 that was captured in Afghanistan or Iraq, and it was covered with a tarp in the backyard of a guys house lol, it was caught with the tarp off on google earth

[@tabascoindy5005]

Such a preety worthy plane. Its a shame how one airlift(afghanistan) gave this airframe infamous/famous rep.

[@Anuj-2]

Its a great cargo aircraft, you should check videos of its landings at Leh airport

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

It’s impressive for sure, Anuj!

[@elliesanders885]

51:18 That's so true, I'm transgender and I'm considering a career in the military. I came across Caroline Page who was the first Trans officer in the RAF. Seeing someone who was like me helped me so much first personally and secondly to see there were people like me doing that job. Also quick follow up Caroline is a great speaker and an SME on the EH101 or Merlin so would be a great guest!

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Thanks for the suggestion, Ellie, and good luck should you choose to join. It's a great career for those who have the temperament.

[@D5Pasadena]

Wait. You invaded Australia? LOL

[@BWNSPTV]

Trying to bum their way onto a mission along the Brisbane river I suggest, 😎

[@couchfighter]

pictures.............sad face...

[@FighterPilotPodcast]

Explain.