Manufacturer: Lockheed (United States)
Type: Transport (Strategic)
First flight: 17 December 1963
In Service: 1965-2006
The C-141 StarLifter was the world's first turbofan-powered transport. StarLifter crews participated in every military and nearly every humanitarian operation on every continent for four decades. On 12 February 1973, this aircraft, then a C-141A, was flown to Hanoi, North Vietnam, in the first mission of Operation Homecoming, the repatriation of former American prisoners of war. Most of the C-141s were stretched to carry more cargo and redesignated C-141B. Starting in 1997, sixty-three aircraft, including this one, received an autopilot and cockpit upgrade, which included glass cockpit instrumentation, a GPS-enhanced navigation system, and an all-weather flight control system. These upgraded aircraft were then redesignated C-141Cs.
