The final C-17 was completed at the Long Beach, California plant and flown on 29th November 2015. Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, continued to manufacture the C-17 for almost two decades. The C-17 formally entered USAF service on 17th January 1995. On 15th September 1991, roughly one year behind schedule, the first C-17 performed its maiden flight.
Development was protracted by a series of design issues, causing the company to incur a loss of nearly US$1.5 billion on the program’s development phase. Compared to the YC-15, the redesigned airlifter differed in having swept wings, increased size, and more powerful engines. It was designed to replace the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, and also fulfill some of the duties of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy. The C-17 is based upon the YC-15, a smaller prototype airlifter designed during the 1970s. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previous piston-engined military cargo aircraft, the Douglas C-74 Globemaster and the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II. The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The aircraft is scheduled to perform flight testing to include airdrop improvements and core-computer replacement testing. T-1 is the first Air Force C-17 built to perform developmental testing. Edwards welcomed home the aircraft after 208 days of life extension modifications in San Antonio.
The C-17 Globemaster III T-1 flies over Owens Valley, Calif., for a test sortie.
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