The C-141 StarLifter

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The C-141 StarLifter

• Some assembly required

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This is some of the tooling used to manufacture
the C-141. These were used to shape the sides of
the fuselage.
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In this picture you can see the aluminum skin
being applied to the segment.
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The completed segment is moved to a holding area,
until needed.
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In the lower foreground, is the lower bulkhead
that the upper aft fuselage will be built upon.
The section on the left side of the photo is
being moved to mount on the bulkhead.
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The upper skin segment of the aft fuselage is
being attached to the lower bulkhead. The hole
in the top will be inside the vertical
stabilizer. This is one of several stations
assembling this segment. All the segments are
being manufactured concurrently, and will be
joined at the final assembly.
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This is the aft segment of the aft fuselage,
which will be moved and joined with the bulkhead,
and forward section.
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Aft segment being mated with the bulkhead and
forward section.
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The aft fuselage upper segment, now completed, is
being mated with the fuselage side segments in an
alignment fixture.
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Another view of the aft fuselage mating and
alignment process.
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The upper cap for the aft fuselage is being
installed. The number three emergency escape
hatch is visible in the forward section of the
cap.
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Upper forward fuselage framework. The aluminum
skin is being attached on the left side of the
picture.
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Upper forward fuselage with the aluminum skin
attached.
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Lower forward fuselage being assembled in
fixture. It is assembled upside down for ease of
assembly.
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Lower forward fuselage being moved to mating
fixture. The section on the right side with the
two holes is the forward bulkhead where the
radome will attach.
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The lower forward fuselage section is in place in
the alignment fixture as the upper section is
lowered into position for mating.
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With the forward fuselage assembled, the segment
from the crew entry door, to the center fuselage
is attached.
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The completed forward fuselage segment is
completed and moved to the fuselage mating jig.
As you can see this is the first C-141A
StarLifter.
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Fuselage Station 1058 main frame. This is one of
four main frames that completely encircle the
fuselage. Main frames are located at the front
and back of the center wing, they support the
airplane while airborne. Fuselage station 998
and 1058 main frames support the airplane while
it is on its wheels.
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A section of the center fuselage that contains,
from bottom to top, the 1058, 998, and 958 main
frames.
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Center fuselage floor segment being lowered into
an alignment/mating fixture.
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Center fuselage main frame segment being
positioned near alignment/mating fixture.
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Main frame segment being mated with floor
segment. In the lower center of the picture you
see a large hole where the crane cable is
attached. This will be used to hold the main
landing gear pivot pin. It is located in the
FS998 main frame.
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Floor panels are installed in the center
fuselage. In addition to acting as a floor, the
panels provide stability to the structure. If
the floor panels were not installed the segment
could become distorted cause failure.
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Main frame segment being lowered into alignment
and mating fixture.
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Lower section of the center wing box being
installed in an alignment fixture. You can see
the upper pressure diaphragm that will be
contained within the assembly.
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Lower center wing placed in the alignment
fixture. Notice the risers on the sides of the
panels. These were milled to shape in order to
provide strength to the panels.
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In order to save space on the manufacturing
floor, the upper surface of the center wing was
assembled vertically
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The upper surface of the center wing box is being
lowered on top of the lower surface in the
alignment/mating fixture.
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Final asymmetry checks being performed on the
completed center wing box. You can see the rib
that the fuselage will attach to on the rear beam
of the center wing box.
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Center wing box being moved to center fuselage
alignment/mating fixture. The dark square hole
is to provide access for maintenance personnel.
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Lowering the center wing box into the fixture.
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Fuselage mating fixture. All three segments of
the fuselage will be aligned and mated in this
fixture.
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Center fuselage section from fuselage station 734
through station 1058. It is being moved toward
the mating fixture.
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Center fuselage being placed into the
alignment/mating fixture. The center fuselage is
the heart of the airplane. All other assemblies
will be aligned to it.
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Aft fuselage being lowered onto the
alignment/mating fixture. Once on the fixture it
will be moved forward to mate with the center
fuselage.
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Forward fuselage being lowered into the
alignment/mating fixture. It will be moved aft
to mate with the center fuselage.
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Main landing gear pods. They do not carry
structural load, and their only purpose is to
provide an aerodynamic enclosure for the landing
gear.
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Main landing gear pod installed on the left side
of the airplane.
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Main landing gear strut ready for build-up
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Adding the brake, wheel, and tire assemblies.
The tires are 28 ply 44 x 16 inch radials.
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This is the brake assembly. It is a multiple
disc assembly. Just behind the brake is the
bogie beam positioner which keeps the wheels
level for landing.
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Measure with a micrometer, mark it with chalk,
cut it with an ax. The landing gear doors are
installed and trimmed to fit with the landing
gear retracted into the wheel well.
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The complete fuselage supported by its own
wheels.
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As the production line begins to move you can see
the second ship forming on the left background.
In the foreground, you can see the men assembling
the aft fuselage upper segment to the bulkhead as
we saw at the beginning of this presentation.
What was a stock pile of parts is now occupied by
the airplane.
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The wings were made off site, and brought to
Marietta, GA by train.
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The wings are brought into the facility, and
prepared for assembly. They are only a fuel cell
at this point. The trailing edge and leading
edge components will now be added.
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The facility was also being used for production
of other airplanes at this time. The C-140
(JetStar) in the background was in the final
production area. Later in the production of the
C-141A, the C-5A production line was started.
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The trailing edges are being installed. This
includes the flap tracks.
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Once the trailing edge is attached to the wing,
preparations are made for wing installation.
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The wing is in transit. If you notice the crane
operator is in the little bucket up near the
ceiling. At that time, the crane operator rode
up there, now he walks on the floor with a long
lead control box.
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Right wing is lowered into position, and will be
aligned and mated to the fuselage. Four tension
bolts and chordwise splice joints hold the wing
to the fuselage.
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Bringing the left wing into position for
installation.
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The fuselage now has wings. Next will be the
ailerons, engines and all the plumbing and wiring
for the wings and engines.
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The ailerons are swung into position and
installed.
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All four pylons are installed and prepared for
the engines.
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The engines are hung, and the necessary wiring
connected and routed back to the fuselage.
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Engine cowl door will be placed on the engine
once the engine is completely installed on the
pylon.
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Engine installed with cowl doors open. You can
see the wiring, fuel and hydraulic lines running
up the leading edge of the pylon.
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The engine bleed air, hydraulic, fuel and wiring
are visible up the pylon and across the leading
edge of the wing.
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The fuselage, wings, and engines are installed,
now its time to work on the tail.
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Petal door being brought into position for
installation. The cutout on the left end was
where the auxiliary petal door was located. The
first few models had this feature for the
paratroopers to jump out. Unfortunately, they
would bump their heads, so the door was
eliminated, and they jump out the side doors now,
or the back with the petal doors open to the air
drop position.
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The left petal door being installed using an
installation jig.
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The petal doors are installed. As you can see
inside the fuselage there is still a lot of work
being done. The pressure door will be installed
next.
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The pressure door is installed and rigged. This
is the original door. There have been several
modifications of pressure doors as they have been
improved over the years.
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Horizontal stabilizer. Actually this is a test
assembly used to ensure the T-tail could be
attached to the airplane while inside the
building.
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Vertical stabilizer. The horizontal stabilizer
will be attached to the top of this assembly in
the fixture on the right side of this picture.
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Fully assembled horizontal stabilizer being moved
into position for mating to vertical stabilizer.
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Once mated, the T-tail will be moved to the
fuselage and installed as an assembly.
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During the mating process, the nose of the
airplane was jacked approximately five feet off
the ground to allow the crane operator to
position the T-tail. Once attached, the airplane
could sit normally on its wheels with adequate
clearance for the T-tail.
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All the major assemblies are connected and we
have an airplane. Now we need to install all the
black boxes, and rig all the flight controls.
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Before we get too far, we need to take the plane
over to the paint barn and get all the correct
markings and insignias.
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Back from the paint barn, we have all the
markings. Final flight control rigging, and
other cosmetic operations are being completed in
preparation for roll out.
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August 22, 1963 the first C-141 airplane
AF61-2775 rolled out of the Marietta, GA facility
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The C-141 on display with a C-130 and C-47.
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First flight of the C-141 took place on December
17, 1963. The sixtieth anniversary of the Wright
brothers first flight.
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The 285th C-141 built was made as a commercial
demonstrator (designated the L300). It was
acquired by NASA in March 1971, and modified to
carry an airborne telescope.
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In December 1975, the C-141A was brought to
Marietta, GA for stretch modification prototype.
This modification added 23 feet to the length of
the airplane. 271 airplanes were modified.
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In February 1979, the first MAC C-141s arrived
for modification. At peak production, a rate of
10 airplanes per month were being modified.
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Approximately 13 feet was added in front of the
wing, and approximately 10 feet were added aft of
the wings. The last modified airplane left
Marietta, GA. June 29, 1982.
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July 18, 1979 the first stretched C-141 rolled
out of the B1 manufacturing facility. The first
operational C-141B was assigned to Travis AFB, CA
on April 11, 1980
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Some were equipped for special missions.
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In 1997, the automatic flight control system and
flight instruments were upgraded to the glass
cockpit. This created the C-141C model.
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As off January 31, 2002, the C-141 has flown
10,508,631 hours, and has more years to fly.