C-5 Galaxy unbuilt concepts, other roles and WHIFfery ideas...

[Diamondback]

As I peruse the Warbird Tech Series volume on the C-5 Galaxy while researching something I'm writing, I noticed mention of a few unbuilt proposed variants.

-ICBM air-launcher (tested and bargained away in SALT)
-"flying missile-sub" (not in the sense of water ops, but launching Polaris SLBM's from vertical silos in fuselage)
-cut-down version as ALCM launcher/strategic conventional bomber w/up to 144-ton payload
-nuclear-powered seaplane variant
-multiple civilian L-500 variants, full-airliner, intermodal container-hauler and Combi. (One intermodal variant had a 10' stretch, others even more--going by the specific mention of eight Conexes, the largest of which are 8' by 8'6 x 53' and the hold diagrams I've seen, I'm guessing this would be one layer of 53', two-abreast, four-long down the hold.)
-"C-5 Zwilling" shuttle-carrier
-KC-5 tanker/transport, flying-booms at each wingtip and tail, plus additional 144K# fuel storage under cargo floor
-EC-5 airborne command-post with three-day endurance
-600-800-seat troopship
-mothership for small tactical aircraft
-dedicated minimal-disassembly airlifter for Special Ops rotorcraft (I'm guessing this would be similar to the two-built Space Cargo Mod variant)

I'll outline what I'm thinking of for my fictional bird later (I'm still developing the concept but it starts with the Spec Ops helo-hauler and trying to figure out what all other mods would be appropriate), but I thought I'd open up a discussion for those so inclined to pitch in ideas or reference material here.

Source: Norton, Bill. Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy (Warbird Tech Series, Vol. 36). North Branch, MN: Specialty Press, 2003.

[PR19_Kit]

-"C-5 Zwilling" shuttle-carrier

Linzi Mumford, a female modeller of CONSIDERABLE talent here in the UK, built one of those some decades ago, and in 1/72 too!  She and her boyfriend would bring it to shows mounted on the roofrack of their car, which was pretty small, a Renault 5 I think. This meant the wings of the C-5 were about 2 feet wider than the car was! 

[sandiego89]

Oh I have a few WHIF ideas, if only someone would release an affordable kit in 1/144  or 1/200

A few I'm mulling is a tanker (different from above), gunship and an arctic bird with high viz, and a few others.

Lots of mothership potential... 

[Hobbes]

She and her boyfriend would bring it to shows mounted on the roofrack of their car,

Wouldn't they have problems with the C-5 wanting to take off in that configuration?

[kitnut617]

She and her boyfriend would bring it to shows mounted on the roofrack of their car,

Wouldn't they have problems with the C-5 wanting to take off in that configuration?

I think if it was that one, it was for sale a few years ago, I nearly bought it --- IIRC, Adrian of Lonewulf had it.

This one however, used to be in the front foyer of Lockheed's main office for quite a few years.

[Martin H]

She and her boyfriend would bring it to shows mounted on the roofrack of their car,

Wouldn't they have problems with the C-5 wanting to take off in that configuration?

I think if it was that one, it was for sale a few years ago, I nearly bought it --- IIRC, Adrian of Lonewulf had it.

Very likely. When Linzy quit modelling to go back to building 1/1 scale trikes, Adrian sold off the remains of her stash from his stand at SMW. Ive got half a dozen resin kits from her former collection via that route. Adrian had them priced to shift.......quickly.

[kitnut617]

She and her boyfriend would bring it to shows mounted on the roofrack of their car,

Wouldn't they have problems with the C-5 wanting to take off in that configuration?

I think if it was that one, it was for sale a few years ago, I nearly bought it --- IIRC, Adrian of Lonewulf had it.

Very likely. When Linzy quit modelling to go back to building 1/1 scale trikes, Adrian sold off the remains of her stash from his stand at SMW. Ive got half a dozen resin kits from her former collection via that route. Adrian had them priced to shift.......quickly.

What killed it for me Martin was the shipping cost to Canada, having got a couple of 1/72 C-5 of my own, I have a pretty good idea just how big the box would have had to be

[Diamondback]

To explain why I had to look at a C-5, I gotta start with some backstory. One of my characters I write is a Pave Low that's developed a mind of its own and a talent for aerospace engineering, and for obvious reasons when the people it works with need to ship out on their Gulfstream for an assignment the big brute obviously has to make other "travel arrangements". Given that there's no way a CH-53 can get to say Hawaii by tanker-drag in a timely fashion, this means heavy strategic airlift... which means C-5, An-124 or An-225. There's only one 225 so it attracts attention everywhere it goes, 124's draw funny looks when flying around the US, so... the best way to "hide in plain sight" is to sneak through the military air transport system with a modified C-5.

The concept is, an L-500 prototype was built and Boneyarded (unlike our timeline, where there was none), then many years later outright bought by the AI, kind of telling its human creator "you have YOUR birds to tinker with on the ramp, now I have one of my own too." Most of the major modifications would be adding specialized equipment to handle rotorcraft disassembly/reassembly for load and unload automatically, but it'd also get the KC-5 additional fuel tankage, a full rebuild from lighter and stronger materials wherever possible, and a major engine upgrade to 125K# GE90 derivatives. A probe/drogue reel would be added at each wingtip, and I'm thinking a C-130-style layout of external tanks under the wings. (With the C-5's greater size, I'm thinking something like 3000-gallon "tall-tail" B-52 tip-tanks.) Of course, a major defensive upgrade including laser countermeasures and more capable radar both nose and tail is a must... unsure if towed decoys would be any use here. Additional sensors would be required so that the MH-53N's AI could operate this "MC-5" without requiring a live crew, but I'm not sure yet how many, what and where.

Beyond that, I'm at a loss for where to go with this...

[martinbayer]

Robert Salkeld had variations of a semi-reusable launch vehicle that used the C-5 as a carrier:

http://www.capcomespace.net/dossiers/espace_US/shuttle/1960-80/1965%20salkeld.jpg

http://www.pmview.com/spaceodysseytwo/spacelvs/sld039.htm

Martin

[McColm]

Wow,
If I can create a box shoulder section for my Boeing 747s, that photo would be worth whiffing.

[The Rat]

Interesting stuff. For a while now I've been looking for a couple of those Academy Sky Giants examples, but they're rare as hen's teeth. Want to make a stretched six-engined one and a shortened twin-engine.