,
Copyright © - Werner Fishdick
I found these pictures on a Japanese web site.. They were taken at an airshow in Japan. The date and photographer are unknown.
ALTUS RETIRES C-141B TO BONEYARD
Released: 22 Oct 1999
by Tech. Sgt. Dave Hembroff
97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFPN) -~ Forty thousand hours in flight is like
spending more than four and a half years continuously aloft. Many fliers never
reach half that number; few crewmembers today would even dream of it. But
66-0198 is no ordinary "crew-dog." The C-141B Starlifter was retired from
active service Oct 18, [1999].
Tail number 66-0198 entered service during the Johnson administration, on June
13, 1967. The plane was first based at Norton Air Force Base, Calif., where it
flew Pacific Rim missions and amassed nearly 35,000 flying hours over 25 years.
The aircraft saw the Air Force withdraw from Vietnam, repatriated prisoners of
war, and participated in hundreds of exercises. The Air Force stretched 66-0198
in 1981 to accommodate more cargo and it also underwent modification to permit
aerial refueling. She was in the sky over Grenada and Panama during those
conflicts and flew more than 100 sorties in Operations Desert Shield and Storm.
When Norton closed in 1992 66-0198 was transferred to McChord AFB, Wash., where
it flew Northern Pacific missions as well as supporting Air Force operations
like those in Bosnia and the former Soviet Union. It flew humanitarian missions
for Operations Provide Promise and Provide Hope, as well as resupplying
American forces in Desert Scorpion I, II, and III With the activation of C-17
operations at McChord, 66-0198 received orders to its final active post here in
December 1998.
"An aircraft's fini-flight is always a sad event," remarked Master Sgt. Alfred
Taus Jr., primary flight engineer on 66-0198's flight to Davis-Monthan AFB,
Ariz,, for storage. "But the retirement of the C-141 represents the end of an
era."
"It's like taking a member of the family to a rest home," said Col. James
Richards, vice commander, 97
th
Air Mobility Wing and navigator for
the trip. "It's good to know that 198 will still be silently serving, however."
The aircraft will be preserved at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration
Center at Davis-Monthan, and replacement parts for C-141's flying into the next
millennium may well come from 198.
Senior Master Sgt. Ken Gould and Chief Master Sgt, Fred Volkman readied 660198
with just enough equipment to get it to Davis-Monthan, and supervised the
removal of all non-essential survival equipment.
"This airplane is in great shape - it's just flown too many hours," Volkman
said.
Lt Col. Bruce Card, 57
th
Airlift Squadron commander, flew the nearly
two-hour leg from Altus AFB, Okla., to Davis-Monthan.
He taxied 66-0198 to the AMARG entry area and waited as the motorized "pearly
gates" slid aside before pulling the aircraft inside.
"You know that the wings will clear the gates, but it's a kind of ceremony to
wait for them to swing wide. The airplane deserves that honor at least."
Tail 66-0198 is the 77
th
C-141 to be retired at Davis-Monthan, and
one of several that have come from Altus in the last year and a half
"The 141 has always been a symbol of freedom for me," Richards remarked. "It is
like a little piece of America wherever it goes. My goal when I joined the Air
Force was to be a C-141 crew member, and it is one of my proudest achievements.
Each one of these planes will be remembered for its service to the United
States."