And then there were three
The oldest C-5 in the Air Force fleet departed Westover April 20 for the boneyard in Arizona. Tail 69-0020 – one of the original C-5s assigned to the 439th Airlift Wing when C-5 operations began at Westover in 1987 – lifted into cloudy horizon on its last flight for Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, near Tucson. According to statistics from the 439th Maintenance Group, this Galaxy was assigned to the 433rd Airlift Wing at Joint Base Lackland-San Antonio. It’s been among several loaner A models assigned to Westover to help bridge the gap between the 439th AW’s conversion from B to M models. This C-5, built in 1969, had more than 21,000 flight hours. It was first delivered to the 60th Military Airlift Wing at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., in November 1971. The remaining three C-5As at Westover are scheduled to be retired by the end of the summer, as the conversion to the Super Galaxies gets under way.