Exhilarating footage of two C-17s doing some extremely low level flying
- The C-17 is a large military aircraft
- In spite of its size, it is designed to take off from narrow and short runways
- It has an estimated cost of $200+ million per unit
Published on May 17, 2024 at 6:12 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on May 18, 2024 at 2:05 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
Most people would consider themselves lucky if they managed to see one C-17 jet flying at low altitude.
This photographer was able to see two.
And when we say ‘low’, we mean really low.
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The pictures and videos of the C-17s flying at low altitude, almost close to the ground, were taken by Mike Henry, a talented photographer who clearly loves fighter jets and military aircraft in general.
His Instagram account is a festival of fighter jets, and that’s where images of these C-17s come from.
Technically, this isn’t a fighter jet, it is actually a large military transport aircraft developed by Boeing, in partnership with McDonnell Douglas, for the US Air Force (USAF).
The Globemaster is extremely large, with a wingspan of 169 feet.
Interestingly, despite its size, the C-17 is designed to take off from narrow and short runways. It can even take from unpaved runways.
After the first flight in 1991, the C-17 Globemaster III – to give it the full name – remained in production for 24 years.
It was discontinued in 2015, with only 279 units built.
We should also point out that the plane was discontinued, but not retired.
The C-17, just like other military aircraft that have been around for a while such as the B-2, is still in service.
As you can imagine, it’s enormously expensive.
According to a report shared by the USAF, each unit cost an average of $202 million.
And there’s more.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), an independent agency that essentially keeps track of how taxpayers’ dollars are spent, reports a total cost of approximately $31.2 billion for the C-17 program.
With 157 units (out of 279 built) still in service, that number is likely to go up with maintenance and pilot training programs.
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