Parade of Pachyderms: mass launch of 12 large cargo planes

July 3, 2012 Military Aviation

David Cenciotti

On Jun. 29, 2012, Team Travis conducted a mass launch of 12 cargo planes to test the ability of the local Air Mobility Wing to safely and smoothly launch a large number of aircraft in a matter of a few minutes.

The close interval taxi, widely known as “elephant walk“, included six KC-10A Extenders, three C-17 Globemaster IIIs, and three C-5 Galaxies. Just a few can be seen in the following stunning photo!

Can you image the wake turbulence after the departure of the last aircraft?

Image credit: U.S. Air Force photo / Lt. Col. Robert Couse-Baker

Photo: C-5 Galaxy refuels from a KC-135. Boom operator point of view. (theaviationist.com)
Mass mobility exercise with nearly 70 cargo planes at Nellis Air Force Base (theaviationist.com)
Photo: C-17 (made barely visible in the darkness by the rotary beacons) is readied for departure in Afghanistan (theaviationist.com)

About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.