Boeing has celebrated the 20th anniversary of the first flight of its C-17 Globemaster III.
Test aircraft T-1 first flew on September 15 1991, completing a two hour test flight from Boeing’s Long Beach site. Interestingly, the C-17 achieved no fewer than 33 world records during initial flight testing from Edwards Air Force Base.
“There is no question that the C-17 has set the bar high. The program has performed on cost and on schedule for more than a decade,” Boeing’s C-17 program manager Bob Ciesla said. “Now we are entering a new stage with a production rate reduction from 15 to 10 aircraft per year, extending the life of the C-17 line to 2014 and beyond.”
To date Boeing has delivered 235 C-17s to the USAF and international customers (including five to the RAAF), and the type has accrued more than two million flight hours since first flight.
