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Lockheed C-141 Starlifter

🇺🇸 United States ·first flew 1963· strategic airlifter

📦 cargo 4× jet retired
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. Lockheed C-141A Starlifter: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994· Public domain
  2. 2. Lockheed C-141B Starlifter: Alan Wilson from Stilton, Peterborough, Cambs, UK· CC BY-SA 2.0
  3. 3. Apollo 11 Mobile Quarantine Facility unloaded from C-141: NASA· Public domain
  4. 4. C-141A LBJ Australia 1966: William Keith Nelson ( Rosswnelson at English Wikipedia )· CC BY-SA 3.0
  5. 5. C-141 ODF: SMSgt Bob Pederson· Public domain
  6. 6. C-141 Starlifter 58-4561: U.S. Air Force· Public domain
  7. 7. C-141 Starlifter contrail: Simons/Staff Sgt.· Public domain
  8. 8. C-141 Starlifter with penguins: SMSgt Bob Pederson· Public domain
  9. 9. C-141 flying: U.S. Air Force· Public domain
  10. 10. Lockheed C-141 Starlifter 65-0257 (4594184161): Eddie Maloney from North Las Vegas, USA· CC BY-SA 2.0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
Lockheed C-141A Starlifter, photo 1 of 10
1/10· Lockheed C-141A Starlifter Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994· Public domain

what is it?

The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter is a retired four-engine military strategic airlifter that served with the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), its successor organization the Military Airlift Command (MAC), and finally the Air Mobility Command (AMC) of the United States Air Force (USAF). The aircraft also served with airlift and air mobility wings of the Air Force Reserve (AFRES), later renamed Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), the Air National Guard (ANG) and, later, one air mobility wing of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC) dedicated to C-141, C-5, C-17 and KC-135 training. Introduced to replace slower propeller driven cargo planes such as the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II and Douglas C-133 Cargomaster, the C-141 was designed to requirements set in 1960 and first flew in 1963.

How to recognise it: 4 jet engines · 48.8 m wingspan

base stats

  • speed 912 km/htop speed
  • range 4,723 kmwithout refuelling
  • size 147 tmax take-off weight
  • built 285made in total

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 63 years ago, in 1963.
  • Top speed is 7.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Wingspan of 48.8 m: about 11 cars parked nose to tail.
  • Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 25 African elephants (~6 t each).
  • Range of 4,723 km: 26× Amsterdam to Brussels.
  • 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
1963-12-17
introduced
1965
retired
2006
status
retired
number built
285
role
strategic airlifter
origin
🇺🇸 United States
makers
Lockheed Corporation
engines
4× Pratt & Whitney TF33-P-7
crew
5
length
51.3 m
wingspan
48.8 m
height
12 m
max take-off weight
147 t
top speed
912 km/h
range
4,723 km
ceiling
12,500 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q182113, Wikipedia: Lockheed C-141 Starlifter (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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