A Closer Look at Those Air Force Planes Flying Over Dixon

If you live in Dixon, you’ve gotten used to those big, grayish jets circling overhead, their engines making a familiar whine. If you assumed they were flying out of nearby Travis Air Force Base, you were correct.

Curious about these “fat” planes, I approached the Air Force to learn more about the flights and the planes themselves. The Air Force was very cooperative, and I got to walk into the belly of one of the beasts.

I was given an interview with a pilot for the largest cargo plane in the base’s arsenal, the C-5.In addition to 18 of those, Travis also hosts 13 smaller C-17 jet cargo planes and 27 KC-10 mid-air refueling planes. The interview took place inside the C-5’s cockpit in a huge hanger where the plane was receiving some maintenance. This was probably needed because while getting ready for its last landing, the plane’s front nose gear initially wouldn’t go down. Eventually by working some circuit breakers, the gear fortunately did go down, said the pilot.

Overall, the plane has 28 wheels. 

It was a long climb to get up into the cockpit, which sits high above the voluminous cargo bay that seemed like it could hold an entire May Fair Parade. When sitting in the cockpit, it seems like sitting atop a two-story house, 30 or 40 feet above the ground.

The young pilot, Louisiana native Capt. Craig Dardenne, had a quiet, confident, enthusiastic demeanor. He acknowledged that most of the flights over Dixon were flights to practice takeoffs and landings. Also, some of the flights are the beginnings of long stateside or international flights carrying cargo and possibly some passengers. Depending upon the wind directions, the planes can take off the Travis runways either toward the northeast or southwest. When taking off in the northeast direction, flight paths will frequently take planes over or near Dixon.

Dardenne said that recently some of the giant cargo planes from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey carrying relief supplies for Japan were refueled in mid-air by the KC-10 jets from Travis.

When asked to describe landing a 190-ton C-5, Dardenne said, “It’s always challenging. … Flying the C-5 is like landing a building.”

That weight is doubled if a C-5 is carrying its maximum amount of cargo.  

Apparently because the plane was built during the 1970s, it doesn’t have all the computerized landing help that more modern giant planes such as the Airbus A380 have.

“The amazing thing is, it’s just the pilot – it’s still a hand-flying aircraft,” Dardenne said. “It’s really just pilot skill.”

Dardenne said a typical C-5 crew has the two pilots, two systems engineers who monitor all the workings of the plane, and three loading specialists. With a plane full of military gear or cargo, it’s important for all of the material to be securely tied down and situated so the plane keeps a good balance front and rear.

The pilot said most of his flying involves training flights, but that once a month on average, he and his crew (which often include women) go on long-distance flights which could be overseas.

It’s good “ … to see the world and see what’s going on out there,” he said.

On long flights they can exercise their culinary skills, because there’s an oven on board which has even served up a Thanksgiving turkey.

Since the plane is now around 40 years old, it’s been frequently modified to improve it and make sure it’s airworthy. Dardenne said an upcoming mod will install new, more fuel-efficient jet engines “so we can do longer legs (flights), carry more cargo, and fly faster and higher.”

After the conversion, his plane will be deemed a C-5M model.

I jokingly asked how far the C-5 could fly on a gallon of aviation fuel. He didn’t have an answer for that, so I later calculated that it’s around the length of a football field (ranging from 50 to 153 yards depending on the plane’s weight). The planes carry as much as 51,000 gallons of fuel sloshing around in its tanks.

The plane has drive-through capability because of large cargo openings at the front and rear of the plane.

As far as I could tell, there’s only been one major C-5 accident at Travis. According to an article in Wikipedia.org, a C-5A in 1985 made a fine landing with one drawback – after practicing touch-and-go landings, the crew on the final landing approach of the day forgot to lower the 28 wheels and the plane slid down the runway on its belly. There were no injuries, except to the plane.

Travis Air Force base itself was initially built during World War II and now covers 10 square miles. Around 10,000 military and civilian personnel work there. The base handles more cargo and passengers than any other military air terminal in the U.S.