C-5 Galaxy Landing at San Antonio International (maintenance, military)

[BigDogsTX]

It was a pretty exciting addition to my daily routine when one of these came in for a landing using the approach that crosses over RT 281....
Maybe some of the AF guys on here can help me out with a few questions... Do they train at SAT on a regular basis or was something unusual?

[Paka]

Wow...I don't know that I have seen that ever...wonder if it was an emergency that they got to land there??? Did he LAND or just do the touch and go like at Kelly Air Field?? Weekend, it might have been Air National Guard flight training.

[cheermomof4girls]

Was this last night? I am near 281 and Overlook Pkwy and last night I heard what I thought were helicopters. I thought maybe they were looking for a suspect or something. I only looked out the windows, but couldn't see anything. I never went outside, just incase the "suspect" was on my street near my house. LOL Now I wish I went out.

[ged_782]

Are you sure what you saw was a C-5 and not a C-17? The C-17 profile is similar to but smaller than the C-5. Air Force C-17s do occasionally fly in and out of SAT.

I've never heard of a C-5 landing at SAT, and I'm not sure the runways there are long enough to allow an aircraft that size to take off even if it's empty - definitely not if it's fully loaded.

[smitty12]

Originally Posted by ged_782

Are you sure what you saw was a C-5 and not a C-17? The C-17 profile is similar to but smaller than the C-5. Air Force C-17s do occasionally fly in and out of SAT.

I've never heard of a C-5 landing at SAT, and I'm not sure the runways there are long enough to allow an aircraft that size to take off even if it's empty - definitely not if it's fully loaded.

Wikipedia states that the C-5 has a loaded takeoff rollout of 8,400 ft, the long runway at San Antonio international is 8,500. So it is possible, just close to the margins. With a less than full fuel or cargo load entirelly possible.

BTW the 747 has a loaded takeoff roll out around 10,000 feet and you see those occasionally at SAT for maintenance at San Antonio Aerospace. I can only assume that they are taking off with a lite load.

[cwh]

Military aircraft do land at the san antonio airport from time to time. Not sure why, but the do.
I was at walker ranch park one on the foot bridge over the creek one day when a C-5 was landing. Talk about loud!

[StanStelle]

Originally Posted by ged_782

Are you sure what you saw was a C-5 and not a C-17? The C-17 profile is similar to but smaller than the C-5. Air Force C-17s do occasionally fly in and out of SAT.

I've never heard of a C-5 landing at SAT, and I'm not sure the runways there are long enough to allow an aircraft that size to take off even if it's empty - definitely not if it's fully loaded.

I was driving on 281 last Wednesday around 4pm when I saw what looked like a C-5 approaching SAT. I've never seen one close up, but it looked smaller than the C-5s I see passing over west San Antonio. I thought it was coming in kind of high and sure enough it passed about 50 feet over the runway and took off.

[majormadmax]

Stan

Are you sure it wasn't a C-17? They are very similar but BUDDHA (the C-17) is a little more "stout" than the FRED (the C-5). The easiest way to distinguish between the two are the C-17 has winglets. But otherwise, unless you are familiar with the two aircraft, they are easily confused...

But a C-5 landing or even just doing a touch-and-go at SAT isn't that out of the ordinary, I've even seen Mexican C-130s on the ramp there. Military cargo aircraft often frequent civilian airports, especially if they handle freight. When I was stationed up at Ft Meade, we used to fly in US Army UH-1 Iroquois helicopters from Tipton Army Airfield up to Baltimore-Washington Airport all the time.

Cheers! M2