For one thing, it can use the smallest and roughest of airfields, including; aircraft carriers, dirt roads, assault strips, and on the ice and snow strips at polar research stationsRoof of my Toyota.... Oh, sorry, the pilot only did a touch and go at the east end near the over-run. It just sounded like he came through the cab. I hate bases with a road near the end of the runway. 1983. T-38. Motorcycle. New pants.
C-130s are cool aircraft, and sneaky and quieter than I imagined.
/john
"C-17s have set 33 world records – more than any other airlifter in history -- including payload to altitude, time-to-climb, and short-takeoff-and-landing marks in which the C-17 took off in less than 1,400 feet, carried a payload of 44,000 pounds to altitude, and landed in less than 1,400 feet. These records were set during flight-testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. , in 2001."
Info from www.boeing.com/defense-space/military/c17/sitemap.html
I was mistaken about the abilities and mission potential of this aircraft (I've been out of the military for three decades).