Boeing C-17 taking off from dusty airstrip - GIF

[Altair]

Boeing C-17 Globemaster III taking off from a dusty airstrip.




Previously:

C-17 flying low over city -GIF
Super low plane flyby - GIF
F-16 flyby over a dusty road - GIF
Cartel jet taking off an airstrip - GIF

[nova_robotics]

I knew a guy who had something to do with producing turbine blades for aircraft in the Iraq war. He said dust just absolutely annihilates the turbine blades. They came up with some sort of hard coating that helped, but it's still a big problem.

[hemmjo]

That is one of the problems with sending hi performance aircraft to places that do not have pristine runways. They are just like big vacuum cleaners racing down the runway. Also LOTS more difficult to accelerate on that soft surface.

[Frank S]

And why would you not mount several large JATO's to assist in getting off the ground faster to avoid any more dust than necessary. Oh, I forgot JATOs are no longer considered necessary because we have more powerful engines now.

[bob_3000]

And why would you not mount several large JATO's to assist in getting off the ground faster to avoid any more dust than necessary. Oh, I forgot JATOs are no longer considered necessary because we have more powerful engines now.

I'd imagine a JATO powerful enough to make much difference on a loaded C-17 would have to be massive, too massive to fly with for very long at least.

[Frank S]

I'd imagine a JATO powerful enough to make much difference on a loaded C-17 would have to be massive, too massive to fly with for very long at least.

The C17 is about 4 times heavier than the C130 and can carry more cargo than the loaded take-off weight of a C130. The C130 was equipped with 8 1000lb thrust 15 second burn rockets. So yeah, to similarly equip a C17 you would probably want to hang 32 rockets on it. This could be done with 4 pods of 8 then jettison the pods after take-off. The air frame is durable enough to handle an extra 30+ thousand lbs. boost. The idea is moot though since the last RATO/JATO rockets were used up with a few exceptions in 2009