AMC Museum receives C-5A Galaxy

Watching a C-5 land at Dover Air Force Base has become a pretty routine occurrence since the first one was assigned to the base 42 years ago.

However, on Aug. 7 there was a C-5 landing that was far from routine. C-5A serial number 69-0014 made its final approach and landing at Dover AFB to become part of the AMC Museum’s collection of historic aircraft.

From 1973-77 this C-5 was assigned to Dover. During that time, it took part in a very special testing program. For the first and only time in history, an Inter-continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) was launched from an aircraft in-flight.

The test, which took place off of the coast of California, was undertaken to give the U.S. one more option in basing strategic missile inventory. Although the test was successful, the idea was shelved; the feasibility project remains a footnote in history.

Zero-One-Four, as she was known to her crews, was assigned to several different bases during her 42-year career. Her last assignment before retiring to the AMC Museum was with the Tennessee Air National Guard’s 164th Airlift Wing, located at Memphis International Airport.

The aircraft will not be technically retired until sometime in October, but it is being delivered early to facilitate the conversions from flying aircraft to museum piece. A public ceremony is planned for November after the plane is moved into the museum compound. Once it is in place, it will be the only C-5 Galaxy in the world to be open to the public in a museum.

For more information go to www.amcmuseum.org.