The Last C-141 Retires ("Hanoi Taxi")

Lockheed Martin ^ | 1/08

[pabianice]

Great tribute to "The Hanoi Taxi" which took our POWs home in 1973.

[Doctor Raoul]

Dayton is a blast if you’re an aviation buff.

[Rummyfan]

Thanks for the post.

[MountainDad]

I was a crew chief on one of these down in Altus Okla.

Good memories

[ConorMacNessa]

Families swarm to greet former prisoners of war moments after they landed in the C-141 "Hanoi Taxi" on Friday, May 5, 2006, at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. The "Hanoi Taxi" was the first aircraft to arrive in Hanoi in February 1973 to pick up POWs returning to the United States. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Larry A. Simmons)

[Captain Rhino]

Very nice video.

Rode in this outstanding airlifter a number of times during my career. Always a smooth ride.

Thanks for posting.

[blam]

[SpinnerWebb]

I was a crew chief on one of these down in Altus Okla.

Then you used to do practice drop runs right over my house, which was a block away from the football field in Shamrock, TX.. which HAD to be your designated practice target. You guys would come in so low and slow that my teeth hurt at the sound, as I rattled from my bed to the floor.

[Rick.Donaldson]

Hmmm bump for me to read later. Retired all the C-141’s? I find that amazing, C-130’s are older and still around and the fired the 141’s :( I’ve flown on hundreds of each of them

[blam]

Video of a C-141 taking off.

[ravingnutter]

Bookmark for later. Thanks.

[blam]

[MountainDad]

LOL....sorry about that! I didn’t fly with the air crew real often, but I do know the flew out to the northwest a lot.

[Travis McGee]

Sniff. One of my first jumps at Fort Benning was out of the back side door of a starlifter.

[SeaHawkFan]

Same here, in the summer of 1974.

[Travis McGee]

January of 80 for me. Pretty good wind blast.

[starlifter]

Couple of thousand hours in the airplane.

Sad to see it go.

[SeaHawkFan]

I had about eight more takeoffs than landings in the back of one.

[Retired AF Pilot]

I flew the C-141 fro 8 years and flew the C-130 for 7 years. Both great airplanes. The decision to not update the C-141 and buy the C17 was, in my opinion, a really bad decision. As a result we have less than half the airlift that we need with a less reliable and more expensive airplane to operate. Lockheed had a proposal to update the C-141, but the Air Force turned their noses up at it. Mind you, the C-141 was designed to give 40,000 hours of service, many went to the bone yard with twice that.

I wish I could follow the money to find the real answer

[AlaskaErik]

Retired all the C-141’s? I find that amazing, C-130’s are older and still around and the fired the 141’s :( I’ve flown on hundreds of each of them

The C-130 first flew the year I was born. If I live to be 100 I doubt if I'll see the last flight of the last C-130. I only flew on the C-141 a few times as a Space A pax. But I have over 5000 hours as a C-130 loadmaster, spread out over almost 17 years. Herks forever.