For the first time in more than 40 years, the United States Air Force's largest plane has returned to New Zealand.
The behemouth aircraft - the C-5M Super Galaxy - landed at Auckland's Whenuapai airbase last night, delivering the first components for a new C-130J Hercules simulator.
The aircraft's wingspan is 67.89 metres and has a maximum take-off weight of just over 381 tonnes.
The C-5M Super Galaxy is the US Air Force's largest plane. Photo: Marika Khabazi
NZ Defence Force Auckland base commander Group Captain Brett Clayton said the plane's arrival was a great opportunity for the defence force.
"The relationship between the Royal New Zealand Air Force and the United States Air Force, and their respective governments, is very strong at the moment and we simply would not have been able to bring out this piece of capability without that relationship.
"These aircraft are in hot demand right around the world and so, for us to actually operate, have the ability to bring out the simulator via two missions - one today and then there'll be a further one next week - is really important and means a lot to us," Clayton said.
A second delivery for the remaining components of the flight simulator will arrive next week. Photo: Marika Khabazi
While the remaining parts for the full-motion flight simulator will arrive next week, he said the technology was expected to be ready for use next year.
"The great thing about having a simulator here in New Zealand is that no longer will our crews have to go to the United States to train, and so the primary reason why we have the simulators is to do the initial pilot training, to do procedures that are just too dangerous to conduct in the aircraft and any of our current training that we do from time to time.
"The last piece, I suppose, which is really important for us having a simulator here in New Zealand is that we can start to do full mission rehearsal.
"Before our crews will deploy on any mission, we can load the environment, we can load weather, and so they can actually go and practice their mission in a safe environment, before they actually go and execute it in the aircraft," Clayton said.
In December, the last of five new C-130J Hercules arrived in New Zealand to replace the C-130H Hercules that had been the workhorse of the Royal New Zealand Air Force for 60 years.
Clayton said the overall C-130J package is $1.5 billion and the flight simulator is part of that.
The C-5M Super Galaxy's nose door deployed. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
For the American crew of the C-5M Super Galaxy, this was their first time on New Zealand soil.
US Air Force Technical Sergeant Jeremy Bennett said, after 11 years working on the plane, it had a distinctive charm.
"Not many aircraft have flight engineers on them anymore," he said. "This is one of the two aircraft in the air force that still has them, so it's my favorite aircraft - it's the only one I've ever been on.
"During my training, I got to be on one and it was love at first sight, the moment I stepped foot on it.
"It's just so big. You get on and it's the biggest one - it's not the second-biggest or the third-biggest.
"Every plane has its own personality. Some are a bit more finicky and touchy than others, but once you get them going, they just move and move and move - they're really fantastic."
"Getting on it and just seeing all the crew roles come together to mesh to really be part of essentially launching a building with wings into the sky is just something special that you don't get to do anywhere else," Bennett said.
US Air Force Lieutenant Sean Murray poses in front of the C-5M Super Galaxy. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
US Air Force Lieutenant Sean Murray put into perspective just how big the C-5M Super Galaxy was.
"When the C-5 was designed, it was designed to take the original C-130, if you took the wings off and put it inside, and it would just come straight out," he said. "You can move an entire C-130 inside of a C-5, if you take the wings off.
He said the aircraft had plenty of room for cargo and crew, with three lavatories and galleys, each with an oven and fridge.
"Up in the flight deck, there's actually a lot more room.
"Typically, we came down here with 14 crew. We have 25 spots, so you end up getting a lot of room and we have six bunks.
"We have his-and-her throttles up there, so there's a lot of room separated even between the pilots. It's actually pretty comfy up there and it's a really nice plane to fly."
The C-5M Super Galaxy will remain at Whenuapai until Friday, when it'll return to the United States, via Hawaii.
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