DEEP FREEZE

A C-141B Starlifter aircraft leaves four plumes of exhaust behind it as it prepares for an airdrop during Operation Deep Freeze. Can airlift combat forces, equipment and supplies, and deliver them on the ground or by airdrop, using paratroop doors on each side and a rear loading ramp. It can be used for low-altitude delivery of paratroops and equipment, and high-altitude delivery of paratroops. It can also airdrop equipment and supplies using the container delivery system. It is the first aircraft designed to be compatible with the 463L Material Handling System, which permits off-loading 68,000 pounds (30,600 kilograms) of cargo, refueling and reloading a full load, all in less than an hour. The C-141 has an all-weather landing system, pressurized cabin and crew station. Its cargo compartment can easily be modified to perform around 30 different missions. About 200 troops or 155 fully equipped paratroops can sit in canvas side-facing seats, or 166 troops in rear-facing airline seats. Rollers in the aircraft floor allow quick and easy cargo pallet loading. A palletized lavatory and galley can be installed quickly to accommodate passengers, and when palletized cargo is not being carried, the rollers can be turned over to leave a smooth, flat surface for loading vehicles. In its aeromedical evacuation role, the Starlifter can carry about 103 litter patients, 113 ambulatory patients or a combination of the two. It provides rapid transfer of the sick and wounded from remote areas overseas to hospitals in the United States.

C-141A Starlift arrives

The first C-141A Starlifter arrives in California April 1965. (U.S. Air Force illustration)

Urgent Fury

A wounded soldier is treated by U.S. military personnel before being placed aboard a C-141B Starlifter aircraft for medical evacuation during Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, which occurred Oct. 25 to Nov. 3, 1983.

C-141A

The first C-141A Starlifter, delivered to Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., in October 1964, began squadron operations in April 1965.

'Hanoi Taxi' arrives at National Museum of the Air Force

Col. Tom Moe looks out the window while flying on one of the the last missions of the C-141 "Hanoi Taxi" on Friday, May 5, 2006 over Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The "Hanoi Taxi" was the first aircraft to arrive in Hanoi in February 1973 to pick up prisoners of war returning to the United States. The C-141 landed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force where it will be on display this summer. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Larry A. Simmons)

'Hanoi Taxi' arrives at National Museum of the Air Force

Families swarm to greet former prisoners of war moments after they landed in the C-141 "Hanoi Taxi" on Friday, May 5, 2006, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The "Hanoi Taxi" was the first aircraft to arrive in Hanoi in February 1973 to pick up POWs returning to the United States. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Larry A. Simmons)