#1976· ICAO C5M
Lockheed C-5 Galaxy
🇺🇸 United States ·first flew 1968· strategic airlifter
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10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. C5 galaxy: U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Charlie Miller· Public domain
- 2. C-5 Galaxy: USAF· Public domain
- 3. C5 Galaxy nose: Jimwmurphy· CC BY 3.0
- 4. Lockheed C-5B Galaxy (L-500), USA - Air Force AN0568811: Konstantin von Wedelstaedt· GFDL 1.2
- 5. Lockheed C-5 Galaxy loading 135: Staff Sgt. Efren Lopez, U.S Air Force· Public domain
- 6. M1 Abrams loaded on a C-5 Galaxy: Roland Balik· Public domain
- 7. USAF C-5 Galaxy in flight: U.S. Air Force photo by Brett Snow· Public domain
- 8. 167th AS C-5A Galaxy: United States Air Force· Public domain
- 9. 725th AMS Preforms Operations Checks On C-5 Galaxy (7015292): U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class John Owen· Public domain
- 10. 725th AMS Preforms Operations Checks On C-5 Galaxy (7015295): U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class John Owen· Public domain
what is it?
The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large four-engine military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-range strategic airlift capability, one that can carry outsized and oversized loads, including all air-certifiable cargo. The Galaxy has many similarities to the smaller Lockheed C-141 Starlifter and the later Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. The C-5 is among the largest military aircraft in the world.
How to recognise it: 4 jet engines · high wing · 67.9 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 58 years ago, in 1968.
- Top speed is 6.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 67.9 m: about 15 cars parked nose to tail.
- Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 64 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Range of 8,890 km: Amsterdam to New York (≈5,850 km) without stopping.
- Can fly 1.4× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).
jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1968-06-30
- introduced
- 1970
- status
- still flying
- number built
- 131
- role
- strategic airlifter
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- makers
- Lockheed Martin
- engines
- 4× General Electric F138-100
- crew
- 7
- length
- 75.3 m
- wingspan
- 67.9 m
- height
- 19.8 m
- max take-off weight
- 381 t
- top speed
- 856 km/h
- cruise speed
- 833 km/h
- range
- 8,890 km
- ceiling
- 12,497 m
- wings
- high wing
- ICAO code
- C5M
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q182012, Wikipedia: Lockheed C-5 Galaxy (CC BY-SA 4.0), ICAO code from list of aircraft type designators.Updated 2026-10-24.