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00:00People of Delaware, do not be alarmed. We come in peace.
00:08Today I'm taking this lot on an incredible journey.
00:13We're not going by road.
00:16This entire convoy of vehicles is going inside something else.
00:22The biggest transporter aircraft in the entire U.S. Air Force.
00:27The almighty C5M Super Galaxy.
00:32And there it is.
00:34Oh, yeah.
00:36This, this is going to be fun.
00:43This colossal plane is jaw-dropping.
00:47Fully loaded, it can weigh up to 381 tonnes.
00:51So what does it take to get something this big and this heavy off the ground?
01:00And keep it airborne?
01:02Here I go.
01:11I'm Richard Hammond.
01:12Hello.
01:13And I'm on a mission to explore the really, really big...
01:17Awesome!
01:18Top ten list of insane things I've ever been involved in doing.
01:21This is number one.
01:23Oh!
01:24And yes, I know, everything seems big to me.
01:26Am I climbing into an engine?
01:27I feel like I've been shrunk.
01:29I'll uncover the incredible ways engineers have supersized our world.
01:35I'm sure it's supposed to be this close.
01:37Oh!
01:38I looked over my shoulder.
01:39I shouldn't have done that.
01:40Reveal that sometimes it's the tiny things that make the Titanic possible.
01:45I'm stealing their power!
01:48Ha-ha-ha!
01:49I could not do this for a job.
01:52And meet the heroes who design, build and live big.
01:58If I do it wrong, are we all blown to pieces?
02:01Maybe.
02:02Dover Air Force Base, Delaware.
02:15Home to many of the US Air Force's 52-strong fleet of Super Galaxy C5M cargo planes.
02:23At 75 metres long, 68 metres wide and 20 metres tall,
02:29it's the largest transport aircraft in the US military arsenal.
02:33This was born out of a time when the army's tanks and machinery
02:37had outgrown the planes they needed to transport them around the world.
02:41They needed a bigger plane.
02:43And they got one!
02:46It holds more world records for carrying heavy loads
02:49than any other aircraft in history.
02:51It's pretty much anything the military needs can fit in there.
02:56It's magnificent!
03:00But this isn't just the story of a giant plane.
03:04This is the story of how the design of one aircraft
03:07led to a revolution in global aviation.
03:10I'm being given the rare privilege of taking this convoy on a special training flight.
03:24Young pilots who practice walking in slow motion every day
03:28are being taught the unique intricacies of flying the Super Galaxy
03:32by seasoned elite pilot Major Paterson Hill.
03:38Thanks for letting me come and ride on your enormous aeroplane.
03:42Is this just the soundtrack to your life?
03:45I can't hear you.
03:46Yeah, exactly!
03:47It's so loud.
03:48Your whole lives have lived with this racket.
03:50Good, I'll leave you with the low tank.
03:52OK, low tank.
03:53Are we going to get all my stuff on there?
03:55Absolutely.
03:56First, we've got to get off the port hook that's on board.
04:02One of the Super Galaxy's innovations is that instead of having just a cargo hatch at the rear,
04:08its nose opens too.
04:10How much does this weigh?
04:11This weighs 3.3 tonnes.
04:13Oh, there he goes!
04:19It's like a whale yawning!
04:21Now that it's empty, let's see the legendary cargo hold.
04:30There it is.
04:32This is what this whole aircraft is about.
04:36You could fit 11 blue whales in here,
04:40or 4,800 llamas,
04:44or 25 million ping-pong balls.
04:47What I'm saying is, it's huge!
04:51It's basically a flying aircraft hangar.
04:55It's time to get my convoy on board.
04:58But such a massive load can't just be placed randomly in the cargo hold.
05:02They know it'll fit in.
05:04It's where do you put it?
05:05Where does its weight sit?
05:07How does that affect the centre of gravity, the balance of the aeroplane?
05:11With vehicles weighing different amounts, the distribution of weight on the plane must be precise.
05:20It's a lot like balancing a seesaw.
05:23Too much weight at the front or back, and the plane will be very difficult, or worse, impossible to fly.
05:29The full crop of a perfectly balanced plane is called the centre of gravity.
05:35And it's different for every load.
05:37It's more than just clever packing.
05:39It's engineering.
05:41Line.
05:4223-year-old loadmaster Sam Richardson has already calculated where the centre of gravity is for all of these vehicles.
05:54Each has to be parked in a precise position, especially one vehicle.
05:59We have the centre of gravity on the actual vehicle itself.
06:04So let's go look at where it's at.
06:05Yeah.
06:06It's gonna be marked right here in the vehicle.
06:08So the load is balanced.
06:10The marker on the second Humvee must be lined up exactly with the plane's centre of gravity.
06:19It's where I need you to make sure that centre of gravity meets right here.
06:23Okay.
06:24I got a job.
06:25Make way, I'm in charge.
06:27Perfect.
06:28It's there.
06:29Okay.
06:30Right.
06:31Go.
06:32Whenever that centre of gravity meets that.
06:33How do I tell you to stop?
06:34Just gotta yell it with your loud voice.
06:35Don't stop.
06:36We'll take a check.
06:37Stop.
06:38Stop.
06:39All right.
06:40Go.
06:41All right.
06:42You ready?
06:43Yeah.
06:44Wait, you're checking or don't screw this up.
06:45I know you are.
06:46Okay.
06:47Well, I lost my line.
06:48There's my line.
06:49Here comes the line.
06:50Stop.
06:54All right.
06:55How'd I do?
06:56Good job.
06:59Change off.
07:00I like that one.
07:01There you go.
07:02That's a good shot.
07:04The team position the Humvees well up front to compensate for the heavier tankers at the
07:09rear.
07:10In a hostile situation, the planes are sitting duck on the ground.
07:14So everything in the hold is designed for super fast loading and take off.
07:20This little device here that catches the chain link.
07:24So you drop the link in there and that holds it.
07:26It couldn't be simpler and quicker to operate.
07:31I mean, it's not lightweight.
07:32It's all pretty heavy duty around there.
07:34But that's nifty.
07:35That's clever.
07:36It's your first time, but you're doing all right.
07:41Well, that's not going to tighten, is it?
07:42You might run out of room if you do.
07:44I'll fix it up for you.
07:45When you get real good, you might only have to crank it about down, down, down.
07:55Convoys secure, Major Hill gives a preflight briefing to the crew, which I'm excited to
08:00say includes me.
08:02It's a normal local training flight, except that it's not normal for two reasons.
08:07One, because you're here.
08:08Sorry.
08:09Second, we've got a lot of cargo.
08:10That's about 100,000 pounds of cargo.
08:12And so the airplane's going to fly a little bit different, heavier airplane, more momentum.
08:17It's going to be a little bit harder to fly, but hopefully not too difficult.
08:21Okay.
08:22And critically, I mustn't touch, I'm guessing, like anything, no levers, buttons, just...
08:28Just touch nothing.
08:29Okay.
08:30I can use a handrail on the stairs.
08:32You can use a handrail on the stairs.
08:33All right?
08:34Yep.
08:35Let's do it.
08:36Okay.
08:37Off to you.
08:38All right.
08:39I'm not nervous.
08:40What can go wrong?
08:41I'm just going to check again.
08:43Yeah, that is definitely fixed.
08:56Right now, they're starting the engines.
08:58There are four.
08:59There are four.
09:00They're big.
09:01They take some stuff.
09:02It's coming to life.
09:07Despite its enormous size, the Super Galaxy is capable of an assault takeoff and landing on a short runway just 914 meters long.
09:20Because we're a little bit heavy today, we're going to use the full power takeoff, so a little faster acceleration than you would normally get.
09:26Hopefully you enjoy it.
09:28We'll push the power all the way up, and this airplane will climb pretty quickly at MTL, which is max takeoff.
09:35So you'll see our airspeed here.
09:37You'll hear me call 80 knots.
09:39When we get to 80, that's our first go-no-go point.
09:42So after 80 knots, we're only going to stop the airplane if something catastrophic happens that would make it unsafe to fly.
09:48Once we get to 80, the next thing you'll see is go at 122.
09:53If something goes wrong after 80, we can still stop the airplane.
09:56But if something goes wrong after 122, we're committed to flight.
09:59Okay.
10:00I'll be watching those numbers.
10:01Yeah.
10:02Let me know if you see anything.
10:03Okay.
10:04Next, I get to drive six stories of scaffolding right up to $300 million worth of plane.
10:14I'm driving a building.
10:17What if I crash this building into that building?
10:20I think that'll be a lot of money.
10:22And we practice refueling at 7,500 meters.
10:25And there it is.
10:26That's it.
10:27Genuinely, I can't believe that this is possible.
10:42I got a 5-5 heavy, 1-way-1 taxi via Lima.
10:45Let's turn out of park.
10:46I'm in the U.S. military's biggest cargo plane, the Super Galaxy C5M,
10:51preparing for a combat takeoff at Dover Air Base in Delaware,
10:55fully loaded with my convoy.
11:00Contact tower and ready.
11:02The flight crew are aiming to get this massive plane airborne in just over 20 seconds.
11:07Get our clearance and get out of here.
11:10We are about as poised as you can think.
11:15All right, cruise ship, takeoff.
11:17Windsor from right to left.
11:183-0.
11:19That was clearance for takeoff.
11:25It's an immense thrust filming vibrating through the whole aircraft.
11:3380 knots.
11:34We're moving towards 1.22.
11:43Go.
11:4622 seconds, and we're airborne.
11:51Because of the size of this thing,
11:54that whole process felt surprisingly graceful and gentle.
11:57I maintain 7,000.
12:04Contact Washington Center, 1-2-7-4-7.
12:07No, I'll master check.
12:08Yeah, it's fine.
12:09See, the bell lights off.
12:10It's going to be about this bumpy or a little more the whole way,
12:12but you guys are good.
12:13Roger.
12:16To generate sufficient lift to fly,
12:18the Super Galaxy needs a massive wingspan of 68 meters.
12:23Each wing is longer than a basketball court.
12:28On a passenger jet,
12:29the wings are normally at the base of the fuselage,
12:32so the weight is above them.
12:34On the Super Galaxy, they're mounted on the top.
12:38This means the heavy cargo hangs underneath the wings,
12:41making it easier for pilots like Captain Quaresch
12:44to keep the flying behemoth stable.
12:48What is this plane like to fly?
12:51It's a heavyweight champion.
12:52And when you're flying it,
12:53you feel like you're flying an undisputed airlift platform
12:57that no other airplane can match as far as power.
13:01You want to weight we can carry,
13:03and our success rate as far as getting a certain amount of cargo
13:07from point A to point B.
13:09No other aircraft can do it.
13:11We can take care of it.
13:13One of the vital exercises in this training flight
13:16is for loadmaster Sam Richardson to check the cargo.
13:20Just a reminder, this whole ensemble, this is airborne, we're flying.
13:27That's not even a normal Humvee.
13:29They're armoured.
13:31With tonnes and tonnes and tonnes of armoured car.
13:33If the vehicles shake loose and alter the centre of gravity,
13:40the plane could stall and fall out of the sky.
13:43So a total catastrophe, and that's down to this.
13:50So your job...
13:52Is to make sure that does not happen.
13:53Yeah.
13:54I'll get this one then.
13:55I got it. Right.
13:56So, I've just got to ask this.
13:58What are you like when you pack the car to go on vacation?
14:01I'm very, uh...
14:03I like to be the one in charge of packing the bags.
14:05I was going to say, I bet you really are.
14:07Yeah, I can get a lot of bags in the car.
14:09Yeah, if you ever had to load a roof rack, it would be a nightmare.
14:11It would be chained down.
14:14The Super Galaxy's unique heavy lift capability has proved invaluable to the US.
14:21Originally called the C-5,
14:23it began service supporting American efforts in Vietnam in 1968.
14:29Since then, numerous campaigns have relied on its ability
14:33to deliver military and humanitarian assets anywhere in the world.
14:39During the first Gulf War alone,
14:41the fleet delivered almost a quarter of a million tons of cargo to the front line.
14:46And today, the planes are on 24-hour standby,
14:49exceeding 4,000 missions every year.
15:02How does it feel to fly something that wherever you land,
15:04pretty much everybody's glad to see you
15:06because whatever you're doing in this,
15:08you're always bringing something that somebody needs?
15:10I mean, it's a good feeling.
15:13I've seen passengers cry because they were so thankful
15:16that they were able to get on the airplane and go home.
15:19I've taken humanitarian aid to different places after hurricanes
15:22or other natural disasters.
15:24Those are some of the most rewarding missions.
15:29It's remarkable that the US military
15:31has kept any Super Galaxy airworthy.
15:34Soon after active service began,
15:37all the heavy lifting caused stress cracks.
15:40The wings had to be redesigned
15:42and the tail heavily reinforced.
15:46Eventually, the whole fleet of 52 planes
15:49was given a $13 billion upgrade.
15:54The planes should be operational until at least 2040.
15:58But to ensure that,
16:00every Super Galaxy now requires an astonishing amount of TLC.
16:05Over a week of maintenance work,
16:07for every hour it's in the air.
16:10Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry to interrupt your flight,
16:12but I wanted to talk about that maintenance issue for a moment.
16:15Like every other machine,
16:17the C5 occasionally has to visit the workshop,
16:19but just getting it into the workshop is a big, big job.
16:25Adam, I'm scared. Am I...? Is this right?
16:26You're doing great.
16:27I'm being tailgated!
16:29Huge cargo plane!
16:32Oh, my God, I looked behind me.
16:34I looked over my shoulder. I shouldn't have done that.
16:36No!
16:38Oh! Oh! Look at this!
16:40Hell yeah!
16:42I'm towing this incredible feat of big engineering
16:46to a maintenance hangar called the ISO-Dock,
16:49where over 100 mechanics will start working
16:51on roughly 20,000 individual jobs.
16:56The Super Galaxy is truly galactic,
16:59and even a vast maintenance hangar
17:01isn't big enough to accommodate the whole thing.
17:03They've had to take the hangar's doors off.
17:08And to reach the plane's 20-metre high tail,
17:12they built this.
17:14And somewhat foolishly, Sergeant John Weaver,
17:18the man who operates it,
17:19has handed over the controls to me.
17:22This is a building!
17:23Yes, absolutely.
17:24It's six stories high.
17:26It's about $9 million worth of metal, so...
17:29Whoa!
17:30I'll give you the quick rundown here,
17:31the way this whole thing works.
17:32It's got a fast mode and a slow mode.
17:35So fast is 2.5 mile an hour.
17:37Steady.
17:38And slow is half a mile an hour.
17:39Half a mile an hour?
17:40Half a mile an hour.
17:41Half a mile an hour.
17:42About my cycling speed.
17:44Wait a minute, is this done by eye?
17:46Yes, sir.
17:47No way.
17:48I thought it would be all computers and, like, distance.
17:53No, sir. Just dry our eyes.
17:55That's old school. I like that. That's impressive.
17:58So, whenever you're ready, we'll go ahead and put it in fast mode.
18:01Do it.
18:02All right.
18:03I'm gonna put a bit more left in.
18:08A lot more left in.
18:09Yep, yep.
18:10It's a bit like when you're at the supermarket and you get one of those wonky trolleys.
18:17If I'm just a few centimetres out, it won't be a stack of cans I'll crash into.
18:22It'll be $300 million worth of plane.
18:25No pressure.
18:27Straightening up.
18:28Yep, you're about 10 degrees.
18:30A little more.
18:31I'm driving a building.
18:35What if I crash this building into that building?
18:38I think that would be a lot of money.
18:40Try and get this on the center line right here.
18:44Can I tell you the embarrassing truth?
18:46I can't see over the plane to see the beam.
18:48So, right now, you're going a little left, so bring it a little right.
18:50A little right.
18:51You're gonna have to do more than that.
18:54All right, let it off, go center.
18:56Zero degrees right there.
18:58I've just parked $9 million worth of scaffolding around $300 million worth of plane.
19:12And amazingly, nothing got broken or exploded.
19:16Now I can find out about the extreme maintenance that's required to keep this huge beast airworthy.
19:22The outer shell needs to be super strong, but also super light.
19:27That makes it vulnerable to fatigue.
19:29And Technical Sergeant James Gerds wants to show me how they test for it.
19:33One of the things we do, we come in here and we do a visual inspection and then we do a tap test.
19:38So it's all by sound, right?
19:40So I hear that pinging, metallic ping.
19:43Once you get to hear it, see how it sounds a little dull?
19:46Yeah.
19:47Right, and that sound, why does that sound different?
19:50Because the core is desponded from the outer skin.
19:56So that's our damage.
19:57That's the technical piece of equipment?
19:58Yes, sir.
19:59It's not a stethoscope or a magic camera.
20:01It's just...
20:02Not a tap too hard.
20:04You don't want to dent this.
20:05Criticize my technique.
20:06Oh, what?
20:07Could I dent it?
20:08You can't.
20:09I see, I see, I see.
20:10Funny.
20:11Funny.
20:12So what happens, moisture can get inside of there and it can end up desponding.
20:16Okay, I'll catch up with it in the workshop later.
20:18I'll see if I can fix it for you.
20:19Perfect.
20:20Never know, I might.
20:21I hope so.
20:22Might, I might.
20:23An aircraft this big needs to be light enough to fly.
20:28And the secret to that is a lightweight honeycomb, sandwiched between outer layers of fiberglass
20:33or aluminium.
20:35And engineers Jacob Willis and Justin Douglas have agreed to show me what this stuff looks like.
20:40Is it strong?
20:42Very strong.
20:43Here we have samples of it.
20:45So you have the aluminum core.
20:47Yeah.
20:48And then you would bond something as fluency and light as fiberglass to it.
20:52Yeah.
20:53And then you end up with a rigid, strong product.
20:56But it's still light.
20:57I mean, that is...
20:58Yeah, it's strong as heck, but that's incredibly light.
21:01And obviously, although we're talking about a big plane for hauling big loads, if the plane weighs a lot, it can carry less.
21:06Yes.
21:07And how tough is this?
21:09No, very...
21:10I mean, you could stand on it all day.
21:12Only when you put the skin on it.
21:14No, no, no, no.
21:15Well, like that.
21:16You can try it right now, yeah.
21:17Well, that weighs...
21:20Nothing.
21:21That's how much...
21:22I can't really stand on that, because it will...
21:24Really?
21:25Go right ahead.
21:26If I ruin it, is it expensive?
21:27No.
21:28And you haven't put any...
21:29Nope.
21:30There's no covering on it.
21:31Jump on it.
21:32Good.
21:33But it's only really, really, really thin bits of aluminium.
21:37It's...
21:38Yeah.
21:39Nothing.
21:40This is genius, because every pound off the plane's weight is another pound on the maximum cargo it can lift.
21:53Next, I face my two greatest fears.
21:57Confined spaces and heights.
22:00Look at that!
22:01And I visit a gas station at seven and a half thousand metres.
22:05The top ten list of insane things I've ever been involved in doing.
22:08This is number one.
22:23I'm at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, investigating what it takes to keep the US Air Force's fleet of giant super galaxy cargo planes airworthy.
22:35Right now, I'm about to climb into the huge hollow tail of one.
22:43I've got dressed up because I'm going adventuring.
22:45I'm going to take you to some places on the plane where you never normally get to go.
22:49Starting with, through that hatch, something called the hayloft.
22:54Right, this is clearly not for general use.
22:58The hayloft is the horizontal base of the giant tail.
23:02It's empty.
23:04And it always is.
23:06And that's because, if you filled it, the C5 would fly tail heavy.
23:10No good. So they leave it empty.
23:12Right, we're right at the very back of the plane there, directly underneath that gigantic tail.
23:22And I am going to take you up through the tail to the top of it.
23:26Oh, I've also stuck a camera to my hat helmet here, so you can come with me.
23:32This is too small for an entire cameraman.
23:34Wish me luck.
23:36Oh, that's narrow.
23:38Narrow.
23:39As we clamber up through it, there are things to see.
23:44That orange thing there, that's the emergency beam that certainly goes wrong.
23:48And I'll find that and identify it.
23:52Huge, great structure.
23:54It's just the tail.
23:56And I'm clambering about it.
23:58Right, onwards.
23:59I've got to say, as I get near the top, two things I'm not that fond of.
24:04Confined spaces and heights.
24:05And weirdly, I've got both going on here.
24:08Look at that.
24:12I think I can feel fresh air.
24:15I think.
24:16Ah, yes, I can.
24:19Wow.
24:21Did it.
24:22The giant horizontal tail stabiliser is driven by an equally giant actuator that can move the tail stabiliser two and a half metres up or down to control the plane's pitch.
24:37It's currently being overhauled by engineer Kevin Aguilar.
24:41Do you actually like living here, then? This is your home?
24:44Essentially, I'm here enough that I basically do live here, yes.
24:47It's really nice. It's a nice, roomy place.
24:50Roomy is one word to describe.
24:51So this is the answer to how this whole thing moves. What is it?
24:54So this is the pitch trim actuator.
24:56This is what actually allows the whole horizontal stab to actually move up and down.
25:01So if we lift this boot up, you can actually see.
25:04So it's a threaded screwdriver.
25:06I get that. That turns, it moves stuff up and down.
25:09What have you got to do to it while it's in here?
25:11So you need grease.
25:12All this stuff is actually going to start moving all the time, so it constantly needs to be lubed up and greased in order to function properly.
25:17So every time this thing comes in, you're in here working on this, this is your baby?
25:22Correct.
25:23Is it reliable?
25:24It is, when I'm working on it.
25:25So that's the plane's pitch taken care of, but how does it get into the air in the first place?
25:34Well, the thrust it needs to fly comes from four massive engines.
25:39I could feel it in my chest, the power it takes to get that into the air.
25:47But back in the 1960s, the Super Galaxy's original designers needed new supersized engines to get it airborne.
25:55But even on something that big, there's a limit to the size of engine it can carry.
26:02They needed to find a way of making those engines bigger without making them bigger.
26:10Hidden away here amongst thousands of acres of hills and forests in Peebles, Ohio,
26:16is the testing facility of General Electric, the company that developed and built the Super Galaxy's engines.
26:31Oh, wow. This is a specialized workshop. You can feel it. The air is crackling with precision in here.
26:38I'm here to meet Steve Scavo, one of the engineers responsible for designing and maintaining the big planes' jets.
26:49Is this actually off a Super Galaxy?
26:51It is. This engine's actually been on wing for over 12 years.
26:56So how long is this going to be in for what I suspect is quite an expensive service?
27:01We target 90 days. I suspect it'll take longer, but that's our target.
27:06Depends what you find in there. Yes.
27:08OK, well, look, this is a jet engine. It is, to the layman, just a mass of pipes and tubes.
27:14It looks like the back of the most complicated washing machine ever.
27:19A regular jet engine mixes air and fuel in a combustion chamber
27:24and then propels the resulting exhaust out the back.
27:27That's what delivers thrust.
27:29But General Electric came up with a radical modification.
27:32They added a huge turbofan at the front, which drives more air at high speed into the combustion chamber.
27:41And crucially, even more air through a bypass chamber around the outside of it.
27:46Forcing air around as well as through the combustion chamber made these high bypass engines more powerful than ever before and revolutionized air travel.
27:58This is hauling in huge amounts of air.
28:01Correct. About 42 tons of air per minute.
28:0442 tons of air. 42 tons.
28:06Pulled in through there.
28:08And I can see around the outside, that's where it doesn't all go into the engine.
28:12So this is the bypass.
28:14Correct. So for this particular engine, the ratio of air that bypasses the core and exits through the fan is 8 to 1.
28:23So 8 parts out here to 1 in there.
28:26So the majority of the air is going around the engine and then exiting at the back with more mass to push your force.
28:32Right. And this was a massively significant development in aviation engines.
28:36It's virtually the configuration that's on every commercial aircraft today.
28:41So I think there's a figure that at any given moment there's something like one and a quarter million people in the air on commercial flights.
28:47And nearly all of them being powered by engines at this time.
28:51That's correct.
28:52So it moves the world.
28:53Yes.
28:55Before any jet engine goes into service, it has to be rigorously tested.
29:01But they're so powerful that can only happen in enormous buildings constructed to withstand the colossal forces involved.
29:08This is one of the most specialised rooms I've ever been in. It is only for testing jet engine.
29:16I'm trying hard to avoid saying awesome, but I can't. It's awesome. Look at that!
29:24Probably this isn't the best place to be when it starts.
29:27So I'm making my excuses and heading to meet Michael Giordano in the control room.
29:45So what do you actually do to try and test these engines to the limit?
29:48To the limit?
29:49We close the monitor, you know, fan speed, force speed, DGT, fuel pressure, and our thrust.
29:58How do they test?
29:59They test to 57,000 pounds of thrust.
30:0257,000 pounds?
30:03Correct.
30:05The High Bypass innovation was revolutionary.
30:07It delivered all the thrust the plane needed without adding any weight.
30:11Back on board the Super Galaxy, I've discovered that on top of the gigantic cargo hold is another massive space, which is where they store the people.
30:30We're just taking an opportunity to have a little nose about the crew's living area behind the cockpit.
30:35So that's the cabin with three bunks. Another cabin, three bunks.
30:41I mean, the style is very military functional, but it works.
30:46There's a cabin down here with the chairs and Sam loadmaster in it.
30:50Hi, Sam. How are you doing?
30:51I guess the work's done. I'm going to join you. I guess the work's done for you for a bit, isn't it?
30:55Yeah, we have plenty of time to spare up here, that's for sure.
30:58Like, play cards, eat our meals here.
31:02Really just hang out. This is where we hang out in the relief room.
31:04Not bad, really, is it? Singing songs.
31:07Right. Maybe not.
31:09I'm just going to carry exploring, don't mind me.
31:12As well as the cards and karaoke lounge, I find two fully equipped galleys to keep everyone fed.
31:18And that's not all.
31:20Back here, in the cabin itself, there's room for 73 passengers.
31:25And I mean, it's comfortable. The leg room is, not surprisingly, more than enough for me, but it's more than enough for somebody tall.
31:31The super galaxy can carry cargo for almost 9,000 kilometers without refueling.
31:40But sometimes, even that's not far enough.
31:43The plane's designers couldn't add more fuel tanks.
31:46So instead, they came up with a radical solution, a mid-air filling station that enables almost unlimited range.
31:54And right now, a trainee pilot is about to practice refueling at over 480 kilometers an hour, 6,000 meters above the ground.
32:05Just think about it, for a moment, somebody realized, yeah, big planes couldn't carry big fuel loads to make big enough distances.
32:14So somebody said, aloud, I know, why don't we get one as a tanker and a pipe and connect it to that aeroplane in the air whilst they're moving?
32:22And what staggers me is, people went, yep, that's worth a go, we'll give it a shot.
32:29So somebody had to do it for the first time.
32:32And the only way to train for it is to actually do it, up here in the sky, where any mistake, no, let's not go there.
32:47Yahoo is the point that we're going to, that's where we're going to meet the tanker for the first time.
32:52If I go to Route Data, I put in 15.45, that's the time that we're supposed to meet.
32:57It tells me that we're ahead by five seconds. It's pretty close, right?
33:00Yeah.
33:01And then right here, it tells me the speed that we need to fly to get there right on time.
33:05So in a second, I'll tell the pilot to slow down to 3.14.
33:08And we actually want to get there a little bit late because we want to be behind the tanker when we show up.
33:14But you can keep track of that, you can tell how close we are to being right on time.
33:19All of that's assuming the tanker's on time.
33:21If the tanker's early or late, all bets are off.
33:24But what gets me, despite all the upgrades of this aircraft over the decades, all the new tech that's come on board,
33:30you've still got to fly it. You are still, there's still some judging by eye, there's still some looking at your wristwatch.
33:37It's still a human process. You don't just press go and it happens.
33:41Yeah, absolutely.
33:42Right now, we are in the pretty unusual and unnerving position of being in an aircraft in a pretty cloudy sky looking out for another big aircraft.
33:52Not to avoid it, but to get close to it.
33:57It's out there somewhere and at some point soon we'll see it as we get closer.
34:03So Richard, you can see on our traffic collision avoidance system, the plus one, that's our tanker 10 miles to the left.
34:10Usually you're on the lookout for other aircraft to avoid them.
34:14Right, not today.
34:16Just to connect with it.
34:17That's what's blowing my mind.
34:19We're actually looking for an aircraft to get close to.
34:22And if you look right now, you can see them.
34:26And there it is.
34:28That's it.
34:29Genuinely, I can't believe that this is possible.
34:31I can't believe that in this gigantic aircraft, you can get close to that one and connect with a hose.
34:41We had sight of the tanker, but it's vanished.
34:44Now we can't see anything but cloud.
34:47You saw the tanker come out in front of us and it disappeared right back into the clouds.
34:51I immediately wanted to scream.
34:53So we've coordinated a climb.
34:57Instead of 20,000 feet, we're going to go up to 25,000 feet.
35:00To get through.
35:01We think that'll get us on top of the clouds and then we can do our rendezvous.
35:03We're a mile behind them and we're a thousand feet below them right now.
35:06And we're climbing in formation.
35:09But this is just the scariest situation in flying when we're in cloud.
35:13We know there's another aircraft down there.
35:16I presume this could be hairy sometimes, can't it?
35:19Yeah.
35:20Next, I get within feet of a fuel tanker plane.
35:24Check altitude, check altitude.
35:27Let's keep telling myself this is not a day.
35:29I'm flying above 6,000 meters in the United States' biggest military cargo plane.
35:35We're about to attempt a dangerous rendezvous with a fuel tanker aircraft, but it's disappeared into the clouds.
35:41If we were not in radio communication right now, and I didn't know that he was passing 22,000, it would be a little nerve-wracking.
35:47What did he say?
35:48What did he say?
35:49So he said we're going to break out just over 22,000, so about a thousand feet to go.
35:53We've got to go, we've got to go all the way up the 25, because there's two levels for the AR.
35:58now and I didn't know that he was passing 22,000, it would be a little nerve-wracking.
36:03So he said we're going to break out just over 22,000, so about a thousand feet to go.
36:09We got to go all the way up to 25, because there's two levels for the AR, so we're going
36:14to just be in the higher level instead of the lower today.
36:17Is that compiling or just set?
36:19No, it's just standby.
36:21We're clearing the cloud.
36:23There he is, right there.
36:27I see him getting directly behind him.
36:32So that worked out beautifully.
36:33We're going to stay exactly in that position all the way up until we're at our new altitude
36:37that we can do our air refueling at, and then we'll do the closure.
36:40I still can't believe this is possible.
36:44As the two planes close in on each other, the tanker's boom operator prepares for action.
36:51And as if the thought of flying directly behind another plane at 7,500 meters wasn't terrifying enough, it turns out the super galaxy's vast size throws off the aerodynamics of the tanker.
37:04Can you imagine the air rushing over our nose that's actually pushing up on the tanker?
37:08Yep.
37:09So every time we go up or down, they have to react to it.
37:12The planes are now so close to each other that our super galaxy creates a bow wave that the tanker plane has to ride.
37:20But in turn, the jet wash from the tanker creates turbulence that affects our plane's huge tail.
37:27That noise from overhead is where the hatch has opened up, ready to receive the probe.
37:39A bit of vibrating through the flight.
37:42We're about to attempt docking, and Captain Koresh is giving way to Captain Alex Jensen.
37:48She's just upgraded to Aircraft Commander, but hasn't connected to a tanker like this one for over six months.
37:56Welcome.
37:57All right, you ready to get one pilot?
37:58Hey.
37:59Go.
38:00One of the hardest things is getting off aircraft control.
38:03Just wrecking our vertical stabilizer right now, that's the bucketing you feel.
38:21So just the time when you need most precision, it's hardest to fly.
38:22Exactly.
38:23Top ten lists of insane things I've ever been involved in doing.
38:24This is number one.
38:25My heart and my mouth, along with a few other major organs.
38:32Throttle.
38:33Throttle.
38:34Throttle.
38:35Throttle.
38:36Throttle.
38:37Throttle.
38:38Check altitude.
38:39You can see the EQ exhaust.
38:40As we start to lose that, that would be 50 feet.
38:46Hold to the closure.
38:47That clunk was just connected.
38:48We are now one.
38:53I have to keep telling myself this is not a game.
38:54This is real.
38:55These guys aren't doing this for real.
39:00Not bad.
39:01Why not?
39:02You're looking good.
39:03You're perfect.
39:04Yeah.
39:05Much to my relief, Captain Jensen said that he's also in front of a man.
39:06That's a good point.
39:07I have to keep telling myself this is not a game.
39:16This is real.
39:18This guy's aren't doing this for real.
39:21Not bad.
39:24Right now, you're looking good.
39:26You're perfect.
39:27Yeah.
39:28much to my relief captain jensen has docked with perfect precision on an actual mission
39:38up to 23 000 liters of fuel is exchanged so she has to keep the plane connected for another five
39:45minutes and what's more as part of her training she has to follow the tanker
39:50as it banks into a steep turn so i'll hand it to you in the turn whenever you're ready
39:58pilot's airplane when i thought things could get no more intense while still connected
40:05we've gone into a turn both planes now banking through a turn to the left was connected
40:12there's a better view
40:19i'll set just a little bit to the right right now just to keep our vertical stabilizer out of the jet watch
40:28we are now disconnected
40:37i've never witnessed such precision in operation for human beings working with such
40:43finessed skills under such pressure and circumstances it's most impressive thing i've ever seen done
40:50i'll let you take back to 100 then i'll take over
40:57high contact was perfect
40:59with captain jensen's work done pilots change again for the descent and ultimately the landing
41:05the super galaxy has to land in hostile environments often on short unprepared runways touching down
41:25safely with the super heavy cargo will be no easy feat the super galaxy has unique landing gear that twists and
41:34folds into the body of the plane so no space is lost in the cargo bay when it's retracted
41:50we're about to rely entirely on these 28 wheels and their giant shock absorbers
41:56so
42:04one hundred
42:08fifty
42:09forty
42:09thirty
42:10twenty
42:11ten
42:12Yeah.
42:18Considering that was tons of aeroplane,
42:21being persuaded not to fly anymore,
42:23which makes it a controlled crash,
42:26it was pretty gentle.
42:29That was a tremendous landing.
42:34Clear end.
42:35We have four Humvee and two field rush.
42:42My incredible journey on board the gigantic Super Galaxy C5M
42:48is sadly over.
42:50From its groundbreaking jet engine design
42:52to its punishing maintenance demands,
42:54this plane is a testament to the dedicated people behind it.
42:58Whether flying or repairing,
43:00it's amazing how much is still done by eye and hand.
43:03And these talented people will ensure
43:05this fleet remains in active service for many years to come.
43:09There is no replacement plan for the C5 Super Galaxy
43:14and it's been future-proof to 2045,
43:17by which time, well, it'll be getting on for 100 years old.
43:21Best part of a century of service
43:24carrying out critical missions in war and peacetime
43:27across the globe.
43:28That is an appropriately big career
43:30for a very big plane that does a very, very big job.
43:35That is an incredibly big part of the C5 Super Galaxy
43:38and the C5 Super Galaxy.
43:39Besides the Discovery Channel,