Now about that extended warranty plan...
Richard
Boeing Delivers Last C-17 Cargo Jet To Air Force
S&S, 12 Sep 2013
The Boeing Co. has delivered the final C-17 produced for the U.S. Air Force, more than two decades after the mammoth and versatile transport plane was rolled out as the Cold War wound down.
Military officials took delivery of the C-17 Globemaster III — the 223rd sold to the Air Force — during a ceremony Thursday attended by hundreds of workers at Boeing's Long Beach, Calif., assembly plant.
"It was a long run with the U.S. military, and it was a good run," said engineer Bob Grech, who joined the project 19 years ago.
The massive, four-engine C-17 made its first flight in 1991, and military deliveries began about two years later. The plane is used to airlift tanks, supplies and troops as well as perform medical evacuations. It quickly became a war and disaster workhorse, prized for its ability to operate from basic airstrips and cover intercontinental distances with a full load without refueling.
With a payload of 160,000 pounds, it is designed to airdrop 102 paratroopers and their equipment.
After the ceremony, the Air Force's final C-17 took off, en route to Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. — recreating the same flight the first production model took when it was delivered in July 1993.
(Cont'd)
http://www.stripes.com/news/air-forc...force-1.240960
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