C-141A

The museum's C-141A was the first one manufactured and the first jet-engine military transport, introduced to replace the slower propeller-driven C-124 and C-133 with long-range, high-speed, and increased load-carrying capabilities. This was the first C-141 built, and its maiden flight was in December 1963, 60 years to the day since the Wright brothers' first flight. It is one of only four that was not converted to a B-model. Although originally assigned to the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), it spent its entire career as a test aircraft, used in testing and development so that subsequent airframes could be assigned to operational squadrons, and later performed many types of testing that required a large multi-engine aircraft. Its last program was towing an F-106 fighter to high altitude to test the feasibility of launching a new generation of space shuttle from in flight.

Dover, Delaware · United States