The Most Insane Flight On The C-17 Globemaster

Right now I'm ramp surfing on the back of a C-17! This is crazy! If you look back over the last 30 years, there's really only one aircraft that you could categorize as the workhorse of mobility for the Air Force. We've covered a lot of different aircraft and mission sets on this channel. However, if you go back and scroll through all of our videos, it's clear that there's one glaring omission. It's probably the most heavily requested video I've ever gotten. And trust me, I saw the comments, I read the DMs, I heard you loud and clear. Flying this jet is kind of like operating a tank that somehow handles like a Ferrari. But you see, in order to do this video justice, to do this aircraft justice, I knew that it had to be epic. Formation flying, low-level flying, ramp surfing, assault landings, airdrops, pretty much everything that we could do, I wanted to make sure that we could show you. And so after six months of careful planning and coordination, we're finally ready to make it happen. So welcome to Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. And this is the C-17! You're in the wind around you, seeing the aircraft around you, just really feeling what it is to fly. It's the coolest experience in the world. You all good? We're rolling. All right. I'm Major Wade Hedrick, I go by Prada, and I'm an instructor pilot and weapons officer assigned to the 313th Airlift Squadron here at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. All right, we'll get started at 0710 local, I'm Major Hedrick, I go by Prada. Joint Base Lewis-McChord is one of two, as we call it, super bases for the C-17. And really, a lot of opportunity across six squadrons, three active and three reserve, to work together to make the mission happen. If I had to categorize the C-17 mission in one phrase, it would be direct delivery of hope or violence. Whichever leadership dictates, that's what we're going to bring to the fight. Being able to do that anywhere, anytime, anyplace in the world is also the most difficult part for us as a community, because we have to be able to do all of those things, all of the time. Focus for today is going to be showcasing to you one of the best mission profiles that we have up here in the Pacific Northwest. We're going to be doing a lot of mountainous, low-level terrain following and formation maneuvering. So, we get an up-close-and-personal seat for one of the more aggressive flight profiles that we have. We're getting ready to load up here, and in just about 30 minutes, we're going to be taking off for what I think is going to be one of the coolest flights yet. Hey, how's it going? Hey, how's it going? Welcome to the cockpit. Getting a little pre-flight? Yeah, getting stuff done, getting all of our checks in. We're running some pre-flight tests and making sure everything's good to go right now. So, we can take her up in the air and be safe. Can't wait to join you. I'm going to get set up here, so do your thing. So, I'm all situated here in the flight deck jump seat with the C-17. It's always super stressful mounting all of the cameras. I've got like five all throughout here to try to capture all the angles. And I also just found out we're going to be flying in a three-ship formation. So, not one, not two, but three C-17s. Getting an over 400,000-pound aircraft off the ground is no easy task. We have four Pratt & Whitney engines, both putting out 40,000 pounds apiece. The C-17 can take off and land on airfields 3,500 feet by 90 feet wide, and that goes for paved or unpaved. That's the baseline. We can waive that down with approvals if the mission dictates. So, what that means is we can go into improved or unimproved areas, and then using our thrust reversers, our spoiler systems, and our brake systems, all working together to bring that three- to 400,000-pound aircraft to a stop in that distance. The one thing that's cool about the C-17 is because they have thrust reversers, they can actually back up, so it's a little bit different than your commercial airliner Part of the design with not only the airfoil, but the high-mounted engines allows us to generate more lift with the wings that we have compared to like an airliner. Now, I haven't seen the footage yet, so I'm not sure what the takeoff looked like from the ground perspective, but from where I was sitting in the flight deck, it felt like we took off like a rocket ship. Definitely something you're not used to in an aircraft as heavy as the C-17. Copy when clear for takeoff. Coho, 60F. Coho, 60F. Appreciate the backup there. We'll push departure 126.5. The mission of the C-17 is direct delivery, taking cargo and people anywhere in the world at any time. We wouldn't be able to achieve that mission without the help of air refueling. A half foot per second. It's not bad. Keep it coming down just a touch. Hold this through the cloud. You'll be alright. Don't climb. Don't climb. Come down. Down a little bit. Now, I've had the chance to experience aerial refueling from both the tanker and the receiver perspective a few different times, but every time I get to see it, it completely blows me away. Here you are flying an over 300,000 pound aircraft, 30,000 feet through the sky, over 300 miles per hour, physically linking up with another aircraft to transfer fuel. It's wild. Prada, from the pilot perspective, what's going through your head? What are you trying to do to make contact? It depends on if I'm lead or three. So right now, we're just kind of long for the ride. In this case, we're in the number three position. If I was lead, we would have set everything up with a tanker ahead of time to make sure everybody's on time for the rendezvous. We're already there. So right now, our first jet's finishing up with their training. They're going to move laterally off to the left about a mile, and then the jet in front of us, Dash 2, will descend and very mechanically move over because we've got four big airplanes in the same piece of airspace. So we're just going to be slow and methodical, moving from one position to the next. And after two's done, it'll be our turn. Is AR kind of like, pressure's on, you've got to match the speed of another airplane? It gets better as you get older, right? So I'm a little bit long on this. For Megan and Cassidy, they're just learning, so a little bit more of a pucker factor for them, but that's why we're going to get them some good, clean training reps before they go to upgrade. Megan, you would say yes, it is a little bit. It is, yeah. It definitely takes some getting used to. So it's definitely going to be nerve-wracking as you start, and then as you get comfortable, the confidence is built. You should be able to hold that contact position as you're taking on gas anywhere in the world. As she gets heavier, it's a little more challenging, but as soon as you work that through, then you're golden. Despite the C-17's size, it's incredibly agile and allows us to do some really unique things for the mobility community. One of those would be using our thrust reversers to give us a greater rate of descent. So for attack descent, we're able to deploy the thrust reversers in flight. What that allows us to do is basically stay high-speed and get a very steep descent. So we're going to do about four to five times as steep a descent as an airliner would do, about 12,000 BVI. If I need to transit from a high-speed regime quickly to low-altitude, also high-speed regime, to transit either missile defense systems or other threats, I'm going to use that tactic to go through that area quickly and press on. Apparently, we're going to be going from 25,000 feet all the way down to 5,000 feet in just over two minutes. Now, all I was told is that this was going to be intense. Strap in, find something to hold, and hang on for dear life. 505, execute 4DR descent start. Auto throttle. Here we go. Whoa! As soon as I saw Major Hetrick pull the throttles back to idle, deploy the thrust reversers, I was practically floating out of my seat. It was like trying to reach for something to grab. It was one of the most unnatural feelings I've ever experienced. So the way we initiate a tactical descent is pushing the nose forward, then I'm going to actually deploy the thrust reversers in flight. And you'll see the cowling slide back just like you would in an airliner, except we're airborne, so it's quite a bit different. And what's happening is the thrust is actually pushing down on us and giving essentially a bunch of extra drag so that we can do 12,000 feet per minute in the descent and not overspeed the jet. Auto throttle. Let's go! Yeah, look at that. Lead, 3 request lead up the middle. Get that out of the way. I want to throw your VDI up as well. 320, auto throttles all the way to stop. 320, auto throttles are on. Lead and 2 in sight. So what I'm setting up for now is basically a VIC formation. We're going to be in between lead and 2 as they set up for their shackle. Copy. Now one of the most interesting things about the mission we're flying today is that it's comprised of both active duty and Air Force reservists, what's known as total force integration. The C-17 I'm flying on has pilots and loadmasters assigned to both the active duty 62nd Airlift Wing and the 446th Air Force Reserve Wing. Now if you haven't heard of the reserve, it's what I like to call the best kept secret in the Air Force because it allows you to serve your country and do cool things like fly or work on a C-17 as a part-time job where you can also have a career outside of the Air Force in the civilian world as well. The 446th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord has three different reserve flying squadrons that have a ton of different career fields that you might be interested in. It gives you tons of flexibility to not only serve your country but to have a pretty amazing lifestyle. You can visit airforce.com slash reserve to learn more or apply today. Wade, can you tell us how fast we're going through this? We're doing 330 knots over the ground for about five and a half miles a minute. Wow. So not quite your fighter types doing 500 ground, but definitely faster than our little brother, the C-130, that's doing about four miles a minute. Sink rate. Visual crew. Sink rate. Terrain. Terrain. Terrain. Terrain. Terrain. Yeah, you'll feel that. Clearing left crew. Jet handles way different at 300 plus knots. I feel like I need to do my heat spray maneuver. The water is right there. Water's right there? Right there, bro. Want to jump in? No, you're good. What did you think of the high speed, Sam? Woo! That was so sick. How are you feeling? I didn't know if you were done. Sam's like, can we go home? I've had enough. No, that was so dope. You get why we tie everything down now, huh? Okay, opening doors. Copy once cleared to drop, COA 50.2. All right, Delta 30, can we open the doors now? Thank you. So load master's in charge of all the operations in the back of the C-17. So weight and balance, cargo loading, cargo unloading, passenger handling, passenger safety, and airdrop operations. Cool. Load master support. Stand by. Load masters are one of those career fields that I feel like don't get enough recognition, and it's impossible to overstate just how vital their job is. Now, we're all familiar with the pilots up front who are safely flying the aircraft, but in the back, you have the load master who's managing everything coming in and off the aircraft. Oftentimes, these are 19, 20, you know, young airmen who have so much responsibility every time they fly. The C-17 can carriage a little more than 170,000 pounds of cargo. That can be palletized cargo, rolling stock, vehicles, passengers, anything thereabove. The C-17 can essentially do it all. All right, Ben, so what are we looking at here? How's it rigged? Walk me through the process. Yeah, so this is a unilateral training heavy equipment platform. It would simulate any type of equipment we could drop from real world, such as big vehicles, outsized cargo, anything like that. So the way this is going to work, we roll it onto the aircraft, and then we start rigging it up, starting with our drogue parachute, which is in our parachute deployment mechanism back there. So at a specified time, the pilot will press a button to release that drogue chute into the slipstream, which will then stay out there until another computerized release point, which will pull our extraction parachute out, which will then overpower our right-hand locks here to deliver that piece of equipment right onto the DC. Any trick to landing it precisely where you want? Yeah, sure. So lots of science. So we look at our ballistic data for our parachutes, the winds for the day, our running angle, our altitude, all things like that, so we can really manipulate where we're going to have that piece of equipment land. Now we're getting ready to perform some airdrops to demonstrate the C-17's capability to deliver cargo and supplies to a precise location without needing to land. Five, four, three, two, one, green light. C-17 Globemaster airdrops approximately 14,000 bottles of water and 14,500 meals to assist in the Haiti relief effort following the earthquake that hit the city. We're transporting large quantities of life-saving Globemaster to be distributed throughout Western Carolina, assisting those impacted by Hurricane Helene. If you're doing an airdrop real world, it's because people on the ground need that equipment to get along with their day, whether that be fighting a battle or getting rations down to humanitarian aid folks on the ground to make sure people can survive. So people are depending on us to get that equipment down to them. In flight, that can come pretty quickly, especially if we're flying in a low-level regime to get to the hour drop zone. So I'm talking shortened timelines. I'm talking maybe some aggressive maneuvering to get to where we are. It really requires the crew to be focused and honed in on what they're doing. We need to know exactly where we're going, exactly what our timeline looks like, and make sure we're communicating with each other to ensure we get that equipment out of the back of the aircraft at the right spot to the people on the ground that need it. So we're getting ready to set up for an assault landing, which I've heard described as similar to a fighter jet landing on an aircraft carrier. Obviously, the C-17 is a lot bigger than a fighter jet landing on a ship, so we'll see how this goes. Part of the C-17 mission is being able to deploy downrange and land on short fields, whether those are pavement or dirt. So to do that, we do what's called an assault landing. I'm setting a pitch and using my power to essentially do a controlled fall with a 400,000-pound aircraft. So I'm also, the speed brakes in this configuration actually flick the spoilers so I can kill some lift and descend that way. Ready to go 1,000 feet. Good correction. Good safety lock. A little bit of wind shift. Brick one. On an assault landing, we're aiming to put the aircraft down in a 500-foot zone, so that would be marked by whoever's controlling that LZ. But that's the standard that we turn to. As soon as we made our descent, my eyes were locked onto the pilots' hands. I knew that as soon as we landed, they would deploy the thrust reversers, and we would stop almost immediately. And sure enough, that's exactly what happened. I was thrown forward in my seat, entire body pushed up against the chest straps I was wearing, and in just a matter of seconds, the aircraft came to a rolling stop. Didn't mean to rattle your teeth there. You all right? I'm good. That's tough to have done. Any landing we walk away from, right? That's completely normal, I would say. That was mid-range, so we're touching down about 600 feet per minute. So you really just got to slam it down. You ready for the fun part? Oh, man, I've been waiting all week. Damn, we are low. This is sick. It's only going to get better. At this point, it was time to transition to low levels. Now, I have an interesting relationship with low levels, because on one hand, flying super low, just a few hundred feet off the ground, carving in and out of the mountains, it's pretty cool. But on the other end, if you're someone who gets airsick, which, full disclosure, I've been guilty of in the past, low levels are not going to be your friend. Autothrottle's engaged. Straighten it up. You doing all right? Yeah, I'm good. A little mini ridge cross for you, Sam. These are crazy. It's like we're freaking flying right over them. For rain, for rain. So we use low levels to essentially avoid any threats that might come our way. So with that, I am 300 feet off the ground, 300 to 350 knots, so over five miles a minute. Autothrottle. Autothrottle. Speed 300 knots. Autothrottle's engaged. 300 knots engaged. I would say when I was younger, it was a little bit more scary, but that's part of, like, maturing in this community, and now I'm very, like, blessed to be able to teach this stuff. It's that valley to your left. Brake left. Sink rate. Sink rate. 63, sink rate. Big old climb for me right now. Let's go! Okay, and a lazy left. Now, you may actually recognize the low-level area we were flying in. The end of the Top Gun Maverick movie, where they're flying the F-18s through the canyons, is the same region in the Cascade Mountains here in Seattle. Now, of course, it's a little different flying a C-17 versus an F-18, but still pretty cool. Show them what you got, buddy. Sink rate. I can confirm, it is uncomfortable, but at the same time, it's an incredibly exciting experience. Now you're getting the full experience. Hell yeah. So sick! Now, one thing I was super stressed out about when planning for this project is how we were going to film the ground angle of our low-level flying. All my videographers needed to be with me on the airplane. That meant we couldn't capture that incredible footage from the ground as well. Luckily, we were able to get in contact with an incredible team of plane spotters who do this every day. These people are parking, hiking way out into the Cascade Mountains, sometimes for hours on end to get that perfect shot. And a lot of that footage you're seeing in this video was from them. I've left a link down in the description below where you can check out some more of their work. A huge thanks to them for making this video even more awesome. Epic flying, Calvin. Damn. Thank you. I don't know how you see. That's the hardest part. Now, we can't finish off a video on the C-17 without doing one of the coolest things I think you can do on a cargo aircraft like this. I'm about to get geared up in my harness, which I'll be able to attach to the floor and then walk out to the edge of the open ramp and do what's called ramp surfing. I've only had the chance to do this once before on a video I did on the C-130 a while back. This should be awesome. Opening in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Right now, I'm... This is crazy. Ramp surfing is one of those things that every time I get to see it or get the chance to do it myself, it makes me immediately regret not being a load master because it's seriously one of the coolest things you can do. It's exhilarating. So, sitting on the edge of the ramp, feet dangling over, looking down maybe 500 feet off the ground, feeling the wind around you, seeing the aircraft around you, just really feeling what it is to fly. It's the coolest experience in the world. You call the roll out when the needle's at the back of the jet. Please turn in 3, 2, 1. Well, a massive thanks to the 62nd Airlift Wing, the 446th Airlift Wing, our pilots, maintainers, load masters, crew, everyone here at Team McCord who made this epic video possible. I'm also super excited because now we've officially covered the C-17 on the channel. I know you all were looking for this one. I hope you learned something new. Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already. And I'll catch you in the next one. Boeing Tower, COHO 6-0 flying complete with our landing through Elliott Bay. We'll see you later.