THE US AIR FORCE IS awaiting results from formation-airdrop flight-testing of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy transport. The tests were requested by the US Congress to determine whether C-5s could be used to airdrop an Army brigade. Lockheed C-141's, are now used for large-scale airdrops.
The flight tests included three- and six-ship formation flying to assess procedures and determine limitations imposed by aircraft wake-turbulence.
The six-aircraft formations were flown with the C-5s at 2,000ft (650m) in visual flight-rules and 4,000ft in instrument flight-rules intervals. Nine tests of the six-aircraft formation were conducted.
The C-5s used in the tests were equipped with a global-positioning and communication systems to provide increased navigation accuracy for formation flying. Dummy paratroops and heavy-equipment platforms weighing 1,400-2,300kg were dropped during the tests.
Source: Flight International
