All language subtitles for The.Mightiest.S02E05.Winged.Warriors.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-Kitsune_track4_[eng]

At the edge of space,

a spy plane keeps vigil
on the world's hot spots.

The most badass airplane
in the world.

Flies higher and longer
than any other plane.

While the biggest
cargo plane in the US fleet...

- This is a behemoth.
- ...flexes its muscles

to equip troops
around the world.

We can go anywhere,
any place, any time.

And the most durable fuel tanker

on the planet keeps
the Air Force in the sky.

Ten feet. Five feet.

All right.
Bring it in.

This airborne
infrastructure works kilometres

above the surface
of the earth

to support the most powerful
military in the world.

This is the KC-135,

the Stratotanker.

It's
a flying gas station,

the Air Force's longest-serving
air refuelling platform.

Delivering up to
200,000 pounds of fuel.

The mission is to fuel.

Juicing up planes in flight.

Camp gas to the receiver
straight from the wing tanks,

the main tanks here.

This has been
refuelling forever,

and we'll continue
refuelling forever.

Right now, we have
four receivers on us.

It puts the power in air power.

We have the two
receivers on the left wing.

It's been doing so since 1960.

And when you need gas,
I'm your best friend.

Sir Isaac Newton showed

that what goes up
must come down,

and that's true,

unless the KC-135
Stratotanker

has your back.

The KC-135 is literally
a gas station in the sky.

It flies fuel
thousands of metres up

and pumps it into planes.

That's why it's the linchpin
in a global network of flight.

Jimmy,
tell them we just freed up

an extra 6K if they need it.

The Stratotanker is the thing

that keeps other
planes in the air.

That's important
because there are over 2,000

US Air Force planes
flying around the world

at any given moment.

It wouldn't be possible
without the Air Force's fleet

of hundreds of KC-135
Stratotankers delivering

aerial refuelling
day-in and day-out,

as it has for decades.

And today's mission is to gas up

four thirsty
F-15s waiting for fuel.

Keeping a giant
tanker in the sky

requires some
heavy-duty engines.

We've got four of these
engines on the aircraft.

Each engine delivers about
22,000 pounds of thrust.

That allows us to take off

with 200,000 pounds
worth of JP fuel.

I really love
flying this airplane

because it's a lot of power

and you're just controlling
it with your two arms.

It's like a car
without power steering.

You're in control
100% of the time.

The pilot may be
in control of the flight...

All right, one's going to the
boom, one's going to the wing.

Copy.

...but on the KC-135,

the boom operator
is just as important.

That's the specialist who
guides a telescopic hose

weighing over 100 kilograms

into the fuel tank of
a plane running on empty.

Where we're standing right now,
the fighter jet comes in here,

he expositions himself
behind the boom,

and then receives
the juice from us.

Looking at the boom, that part
extends out about 12-13 feet

and that's what the receiver
makes contact with.

Walking over here, you'll see

the boom operator
positions themself

right here in this window and
they're observing everything

that happens
behind the aircraft.

So, you've got
your boom operator

lying down in the
back of the plane,

looking over
a small porthole window.

They're actually maintaining
visual contact

with the receiver just using
their eyeballs.

So, we rely on the
boom arm to let us know,

"Hey, the receiver's too far to
the left, too far to the right,

"too aft, or getting
too close to the aircraft."

Once the lead aircraft is done,
he manoeuvres to the right,

and then his wingman
comes from the left,

swings down right behind the
boom, the boom comes down,

gives them the juice, and then
manoeuvres to the right

at the completion
of air refuelling.

They're depending on us,
and we're depending on them.

And dependability
is the KC-135's calling card.

The Stratotanker
entered service in 1957.

And before each KC
rumbles out to the tarmac,

a crew member will investigate a
critical piece of equipment

to ensure the plane
is safe to haul up

over 90,000
kilograms of jet fuel.

We are going to access

a integral part
of the aircraft.

It's called the
firewall shutoff valve.

It's in-between the reserve tank

and the number one tank,
which are both filled with fuel.

The shutoff valve

is a small piece of metal
with a big role to play,

preventing fuel
from igniting onboard.

Fuel shutoff valves
are critical in aircraft.

They provide the ability to stop

the massive amount of fuel
onboard from feeding a fire

that could result
in a mid-air explosion.

Attention to these
details is partially due

to lessons learned in war.

Safety measures
like shutoff valves

and dry beds
were given prominence

when the Air Force
determined that almost half

of all aircraft losses
in the Vietnam War

were due to onboard
fuel fires or fuel explosions.

They were looking for ways

to make having tons
of fuel in the air safer.

It's important that it works

before it gets out
of the hangar because,

if they fail, people's lives
could be in danger.

It's the last line of defence.

This is one of
the hardest components

that we have to change.

You're working in
a space probably that big.

So, this is the dry bay,

and we are now looking for

our firewall shutoff valve.

Staff Sergeant Tyler Hawthorne

has to manually
trigger the valve,

then listen closely to
confirm it's doing its job.

He needs to hear a spinning
sound to know the valve

is working properly.

That's
the firewall shut-off valve.

And then, we're gonna
actuate the lever,

see if this valve works.

There it is.

It works.

It's kind of crazy
that something so small

could be so important.

But it's well worth it because,

in the end, you know
that you're saving lives

in the event of an emergency.

She's ready to fly

and we're ready to refuel
and put her in the sky and,

yeah, man, it's a good day.

Great day to be in fuels.

Out on the flight line,

a KC-135 gets ready to rock.

It's time to load
the liquid cargo

for the F-15s
in need of a fill-up.

What's up, brother?

- What's up, boss?
- All right.

The US Air Force uses
over seven-and-a-half billion

litres of fuel a year.

It would take more
than 65,000 KC-135s

to move it all in one shot.

We're gonna put on fuel onto the
aircraft through this SPR -

the second point refuelling
receptacle right here.

And from here, it's gonna
distribute out to the fuel tanks

that we're gonna use to offload
to other aircraft in the air.

We refuel up there,
but it starts right here.

All right, ready?

The really important fuel tanks

are a set of three lining the
underside of the fuselage.

They're independently sealed.

They've got separate
pumping systems.

All that fuel is being pumped
down through a series of pumps

in the back of the aircraft,
up into a long mechanical boom,

and then right out
the back of the plane,

into whatever it's refuelling.

Now, we're going to go
do a leak check on the boom

before we send up the aircraft.

A mid-air fuel leak

would be wasteful and dangerous.

So, we're going to pay
particular attention,

especially to around
the nozzle poppet area.

We don't want
to be sitting there,

spraying the other
aircraft during AR,

losing all that fuel in the air.

And you can see the fuel

is actually filling up
in the boom currently,

and you can see, like,

little minor movements
of it pushing out.

The little popping
movements on the nozzle

confirm there are no leaks where
the two planes will connect.

If there were, fuel would
be dripping from the edges.

So, if you have a fuel leak

where the boom is going into the
other aircraft's receptacle,

you could be spraying
anything from their windows

or getting sucked into
their intakes in the engine,

which could be bad.

The airplane could
crash kind of bad.

The first mid-air
refuelling happened in 1923,

over the skies of California,

where two de
Havilland DH-4B biplanes

passed fuel to one another.

The receiving pilot actually had
to reach out of his plane,

grab a hose, and use a
hand-operated valve

to transfer about 75 gallons
of fuel into his aircraft.

It was an extremely
important moment

because air-to-air refuelling
developed into something

that has made the idea

of long-range global
air travel truly possible.

Today, it's a routine operation,

but filling the Stratotanker
with fuel doesn't come cheap.

All right, 31,000 gallons,
at $5 a gallon,

would be about $155,000.

That is a hell of a fuel bill.

All right, we're done,
we're wrapping up.

Yo!

The Stratotanker now
has a belly full of jet fuel.

That means it's go time.

Going left, pilot. Copy that.

Step out.

- Clear to go.
- Pilot.

Okay, thanks.

Ready.

Approaching right.

Roger. Gear up.

Sporting a
wingspan of over 40 metres,

standing almost 42 metres
high and 41 metres long,

it's half the size
of a city block.

It can kick ass and haul gas

anywhere it's needed in
a 2,400-kilometre radius.

250 seconds, gears up, flaps up,
rudder pressure lowering.

Awesome.

The KC flies at
over 850 kilometres per hour

to reach its track -

a designated location of
airspace for air refuelling.

The tanker has a date with four

F-15 fighters that
need to get juiced up.

We're trying to get to the
track a little bit faster.

Requesting a direct.

So, right now,
we're going to this point.

The KC-135
Stratotanker

has to get to
the refuelling point

before the thirsty F-15s arrive.

Now, we're trying
to get over to this point,

so we're trying to cut that
corner and save some time.

KCs operate all over the world,

including in
active combat zones.

If a crisis situation
required the KC-135

to offload all the fuel

in each of its
ten tanks to other planes,

that means the aircraft wouldn't
make it home.

Can we give them
all of our gas if we had to?

We can give them all our gas,
if it came to that, yeah.

We have certain
operational directives.

Our job is to make sure
the receiver has gas,

so there's bombs on target.

We'll do whatever it takes.

You think we should
go back now then?

Yeah.
Get the boom ready to go.

All right, Pilot, let me
check on ops in the back.

Roger.

When the KC-135 is delivering
fuel to the receiving aircraft,

we need to essentially
connect the fuel tanks

inside the KC-135 to the fuel
tank of the receiving aircraft.

Senior Master
Sergeant Lindy Campbell

makes her way to the boom pod -

the cramped horizontal area
at the rear of the plane

where she will command
the refuelling process.

I'm going to lower
the boom right now.

This lever lowers the boom.

As the four F-15 fighters

arrive at the rendezvous,

a delicate dance begins.

You guys have visual?

They're, like,
at our seven o'clock.

10-4.

Right on us.

Now, they'll
need to hold steady,

as she precisely
guides the KC-135's boom

into the F-15's
fuel receptacle -

a target only about
100 centimetres wide.

Thirty feet stable.

Ten feet.

Five feet.

Alright, bring it in.

Prep for air is complete.

Copy, check. Looks good
in the back, as well.

Connection complete.

That was pretty cool.

With the boom
connected, it's time to start

pumping the gas at a rate of
over 3,000 kilos a minute -

enough to operate
a family's car for two years.

Right now, we have
four receivers on us.

We have one on the boom and
we have one on the right wing.

We have the two receivers

that are waiting that
are on the left wing.

We've probably
offloaded about 1,000 pounds

of 4,000 pounds so far.

That's one plane done.

Now, to fuel up the others.

Right now, I'm making sure
that he's staying inside

the air refuelling envelope
by using these gauges.

These gauges tell me
relatively where the boom is.

So, right now,

he's about three
degrees to the left

and 30 degrees elevation.
So, he's looking good.

The boom
is the business end

of an interconnected
network of onboard fuel lines

containing 50 valves
and 15 pumps,

guiding tons of fuel
to where it's got to go.

All that fuel is being pumped
down through a series of pumps

in the back of the aircraft,
up into a long mechanical boom,

and then right
out the back of the plane.

Got him in tight at six o'clock.
Just one.

Two down, two more to go.

It's up close and personal.

The boom operator

is lying only about
six metres over the cockpit

of the receiving aircraft.

With fuel flowing between them,

it's the most dangerous
moment of the mission.

I want some pilots
listening to me.

We're flying two aircraft
very close together

at very high speeds,
which is really dangerous.

So, we are in charge

of making sure that they're
maintaining a safe distance

and they're not
getting too close.

During air refuelling,

everybody's listening
to the boom operator -

the receiver pilot is
and the tanker pilot.

The third plane
takes all its fuel

and the last one
jockeys into position.

It's one hell of a stick shift,

but skilled muscle memory

and focused concentration
get the job done.

This is the ruddervator
control stick.

It flies the boom up,
down, left, and right.

So, that way we
follow the movements

of the receiver aircraft
until it's in a good position

to where we can extend the boom
and make that contact.

All right,
that's it, out of gas.

64,000 kilograms of
jet fuel pumped into four tanks

equals one completed mission.

There's a trigger
right underneath here.

That's how I trigger

a disconnect when we're done
with the air refuelling.

All right, bring it back up.

The KC-135 heads back
to base, having done its duty.

The Air Force's fleet
of Stratotankers fuels up

about a quarter million
planes annually,

and it's got no plans to stop.

This has been
refuelling forever.

It will continue
refuelling forever.

The KC-135 is so crucial

in keeping the Air Force flying

that planners foresee
the Stratotanker

serving well into the
middle of the century.

With that kind of longevity, it
would join the U-2 spy plane

and the B-52 bomber
in an amazing legacy,

flying for close
to a hundred years.

It's not retired yet?

I mean this plane is old but
it's not even the oldest one.

And there have been
so many planes that have
come and gone in our time.

This one just endures.

It's got old man strength.

That lowered 136.

We're on the ground now.

Still does what it does, and
what it does is pretty awesome.

The U-2,

built by the CIA
during the Cold War,

in a place that didn't exist.

It still watches the world
from the top of the world.

The U-2 is the world's
greatest spy plane,

and it earns that title with one
devastating weapon: altitude.

The most badass
airplane in the world,

flies higher and longer
than any other plane.

This is the Air Force's

premier high-altitude
reconnaissance aircraft.

This goes where
no one else can go

and sees what
no one else can see.

Still shrouded in secrecy,

the U-2 works
at the edge of space,

to see things
others want to hide,

just as it has since the 1950s.

And it's still the most badass.

At over 7,000 kilograms,

the U-2 weighs only half
as much as a fighter jet.

It soars on glider-style wings,

blasted by a lightweight engine
at over 650 kilometres an hour,

more than 21 kilometres up
into the stratosphere.

That's where it lives,

loaded with over 2,200 kilograms

of secret
surveillance equipment.

This plane
is irreplaceable.

It is the best for
what we do high altitude.

Everything about the U-2

relates to altitude and getting
as much of it as possible.

It's the sky's apex predator,
and it hunts altitude.

The U-2 is a pretty
strangely shaped plane

because it's actually
wider than it is long,

and that's by design,

to give it the absolute
maximum amount of lift.

When you're flying at 70,000
feet, you're dealing with air

that's so thin it's
basically non-existent.

So, you need absolutely
gigantic wings, otherwise,

you're just going to be
falling out of the sky.

The 105-foot wing span, a
thousand square foot of area -

that's bigger than
most people's apartment.

The wings are so big, it relies

on some basic technology
to get off the ground -

training wheels.

So, we're the pogo crew.

This is a pogo.

Basically, this is the training
wheels for the jet's wings.

The jet has very long wings,

and it's gonna drag
on the ground.

Fuel's in there,
it's gonna drag to each side.

So, to prevent and minimize
damage, we punch these in.

So, it's from here up, it's
gonna insert into the aircraft,

into the jet, and then
it's going to taxi along.

It's going to come back in
through the taxiway,

and these are just going
to act as training wheels.

They're going to guide the wings
in, prevent them from scraping,

keep them off the ground.

As the wing bends,
the pogo will also bend with it,

to keep weight basically
evenly distributed.

You want to keep the jet from,
you know, hitting the ground,

so these got to be bent,
so they have a little bit

of spring to them,
just like a pogo stick.

On take-off,

it's gonna release the pressure
from the wing

into the pogo
holding it on the ground.

As soon as it takes off,

they're gonna drop right out.

And when the U-2 lands,

the pogos have to be reinserted,
so the wings don't get damaged

as they drag on the ground.

As the jet comes down,

one side's going
to be heavy, one wing.

It's going to be
on the ground, dragging.

So, we're going to show up,

put a pogo right into
that wing to keep it upright.

And so, the other side
is going to do the same.

And now, that's going to drag.
So, go to the other side,

just pick it up, and you just
got to use your force,

shove it right into the socket.

You'll hear a click, a punch,
and it's firmly in there.

So, now, once you have both
pogos in the sockets,

so one on each end of the wing,

aircraft is completely
ready to taxi back.

We're all racked and stacked,
so we're all good to go.

All this effort
goes into supporting

the U-2's primary mission,

being the best
spy plane in the world

for more than half a century.

The U-2 is equipped
with surveillance tools,

so it can gather information
anytime, anywhere.

This airplane is
a perfect tool for that job.

It can carry
a reconnaissance package.

The nose can be
removed and replaced

with a multi-spectrum camera,

basically the mother
of all digital cameras,

that can see in a broader range
than we can.

This airplane is so adaptable
because we can just

change it out and adapt it to
whatever we need to do.

While most
of what the U-2 carries

is not publicly discussed,

it is loaded with multiple
imaging technologies.

Powerful sensors can be affixed
to the wings and large pods,

or located in the nose
of the jet to gather pictures,

communication signals
and intelligence.

Collectively, these are
the eyes and ears of the U-2.

It carries
cutting-edge equipment,

but the U-2 is
an icon of aviation,

with an important history.

Well,
most people know the stories

of the U-2 flying
over the Soviet Union,

flying over Cuba, back in
the late '50s and early '60s.

In a fearful world on edge,

information was the difference
between war and peace.

The U-2 was built
to get that information.

The U-2 was originally created

by the CIA, in secret, as a spy
plane, with the goal of flying

above enemy
air defences and radar,

photographing
military installations

and nuclear test sites.

By flying higher than
any plane had ever flown,

it spied over enemy
territory in the Cold War,

taking detailed photographs
of military capabilities.

The U-2 has flown over basically
every military hotspot.

It was originally
designed to fly higher

than anti-aircraft
artillery could reach.

Of course, every time
you invent something,

the enemy invents something
to counter it, right?

And so, we ended up with
anti-aircraft missiles

and rockets that could
reach those altitudes.

In the 1960s,
the U-2 took photos

of missiles in Cuba, sparking
the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The U-2 helped avoid
nuclear war by getting evidence

that the missiles had been
removed from the island.

If there's been
a military crisis

or something unusual
going on in the sky,

the U-2 has photographed it.

It still watches
global trouble spots today,

gathering the intelligence
needed to build a safer world.

Where the U-2 flies,
nothing can be left to chance.

That's why the U-2 is checked
by hand before every mission.

I start at the front.

I make sure that all the
hardware is here,

and I'm checking to
make sure there's no damage

or anything that may have hit
the leading edge of our wing.

Check our flaps.

We fly at 70,000 feet.

We are paying close attention
to detail because the pilots,

when they're flying that high,

they're putting
their lives in our hands.

Everything needs to be in
perfect operating order,

and we can
continue on our mission.

The U-2 is built to
survive at extreme altitude,

but people aren't.

So, an essential
element has to be added

before the pilot takes off.

So, the LOX converter is our
equipment inside the aircraft

to convert the liquid oxygen
into gaseous oxygen,

so the pilot can get oxygen

up into the converter, so he can
breathe while he's up flying.

So, while he's up there, he
can't breathe the air

that's up there. There's not
enough oxygen in the air

while he's at altitude.

So, we have two
converters in the aircraft.

They will convert the liquid
oxygen into gaseous oxygen,

so he can breathe it
from his suit.

Have to wear the suit

to protect against
the liquid oxygen.

It's insanely cold - negative
247 degrees Fahrenheit.

If you were to
get it on your bare skin,

you'll get immediate frostbite.

You could lose
fingertips with it.

If you were to have your whole
hand dumped inside of it,

you could lose your whole hand.

That's where a
specialized flight suit

becomes a key component
of the U-2's equipment.

So, the suit
keeps our pilot alive

by containing
liveable atmosphere inside.

The altitude that he flies,
he wouldn't be able to breathe

or survive for very long
in that atmosphere,

so this is gonna
give him his own atmosphere.

So, they're
inflating it right now.

He's gonna get it up to
about one-and-a-half psi.

We want to make sure
that the suit will inflate

and hold the air
at a certain level.

If there's a hole in the suit,

air is going to be
constantly escaping,

and in the event of a
catastrophic cabin failure,

your water will start
to boiling off gas.

Your blood vessels
would expand like a balloon

and your skin would
try to contain it all.

So, you would actually swell up.

Your brain can't inflate.

It would be like
an instant concussion

and everything would just melt,
basically, and you would die.

So, getting
the pilot suited up properly

is one of the most important
tasks before each U-2 flight.

Pilot.

- Good morning, sir.
- Good to see you.

- All right.
- Good to see you.

Ready to fly.

Let's do this.

Honestly, it feels real good.
All these suits are custom fit.

It's good to go.

What my overall
objectives are for the flight

is usually kind of
just mentally preparing,

just like an athlete
does before a big game.

So, there is obviously a
comfort layer that I'm wearing.

And then, there's
several layers after that

that are designed not just for
comfort, but just for safety.

Exposure from the sun,

we've got a lot of
radiation up at altitude.

Locking you down, sir.
Three, two, one.

Meanwhile,
back inside the hangar,

a crew prepares to launch a U-2.

So, I'm doing a pre-launch
inspection, essentially.

Just double-checking that all of
our equipment is ready to go.

The smallest problem
can be catastrophic

for these flights,

so every detail
must be double-checked.

Making sure there's
no active leaks anywhere,

making sure all panels
are up, ready to go.

On!

Once they get the sign-off,

it's time to take this
bird into the sky,

so the U2 can do its job.

Hurtling into the heavens

at over 4,500 metres per minute,

the U-2 reaches
its working altitude

of 21,000 metres
in just 12 minutes.

Flying the U-2,
you're the king of the world.

You're flying at an altitude
where you're higher

than everybody else
in the whole world.

It's humbling because, when you
look out at the horizon,

you see this thin
band of bright blue,

and then, above that,
almost black.

That thin band of bright blue
that you're looking at

is 90% of the
Earth's atmosphere,

and you're coasting
along on top of that.

But with satellites

acting as permanent
eyes in the sky,

why is the U-2 still on the job?

It's better than a satellite
because the satellite

will travel around the world,
and you can only get one shot

for a very limited
amount of time.

With this, we can get multiple
shots for a much longer time.

And the
advantage that the U-2 has

is that it can loiter.

It can stay over a
target area for a long time.

So, a U-2 can go up
and orbit an area for hours.

Altitude also
keeps the spy plane safe

by not having to fly

where the unarmed U-2
could be at risk of attack.

This is where we keep
the warning receivers,

so that we know when
somebody's looking at us.

Sometimes the target
shoots back, right?

We're able to stand off and fly
perhaps over international water

and still get a good look
at what we need to see.

But working at
the U-2's extreme altitude

takes extreme skill.

That's because
it lives in a place

other aircraft try to avoid -

the coffin corner.

Every aircraft has
a speed it cannot fly below

or else it'll
fall out of the sky.

The thinner atmosphere
at high altitude

means a place must
fly faster to stay airborne.

But a plane also has a maximum
speed that it cannot go past

or else it will
break up in midair.

The place between
a plane's stall speed

and its maximum speed
is the coffin corner.

And near space,
less than 15 kilometres per hour

separates the U-2's stall speed
from its maximum speed.

So, its coffin corner is tiny.

Fly a touch too slow,
the U-2 falls;

a touch too fast
and it disintegrates.

Don't want to go
over maximum speed.

We got to be
conscious of stall speed.

As altitude goes up,
stall speed increases.

Now, you're flying
in a very, very tight regime.

That takes a lot of stamina,

a lot of attention.

Normally, you don't
fly in coffin corner.

You stay away
from coffin corner.

That airplane was made to
operate in coffin corner.

And as if it
doesn't take enough skill

just to fly the U-2,

it takes still more
to touch down safely.

That's what
makes it hard to land,

the fact that
it has bicycle gear.

Bicycle gear
means that the U-2

has one set of wheels
in front of the other,

unlike regular planes that have
them in tricycle formation

or in three spots on the plane,

which provides
greater stability.

When building the U-2,
designers realized

that the weight of
a traditional landing gear

would cost
1,500 feet of altitude.

That's why it has
to land the way it does,

to save weight and get higher.

Every little bit matters
hen it comes to altitude.

But unorthodox landing gear

is only one of the challenges.

The huge wings that
keep the U-2 near space

make it hard to handle
near the ground.

Fortunately, there's always
help during landing

from another U-2 pilot
in a chase car.

We want to make sure
all our landings are safe,

and that's the biggest,
most important thing

that the chase car
driver can do.

Because the U-2 is
designed to fly so high,

its long wings
trap air underneath it

and obscure the pilot's
view of the ground.

They can't see the
runway as easily as you could

in other planes,

and we do everything
we can to back up the pilot,

get them down safe and sound.

They do this

by communicating with
the pilot by radio,

letting them know
about obstacles, speed,

and anything else needed
to touch down safely.

From the outside, we're
also telling them things

that are tough to
perceive in the jet.

The small
one-degree pitch change

or one-degree bank change
at the wrong time

could lead to disaster.
The U-2 is a great jet,

but down low, it's just a big
boat when it comes to landings.

Another safe landing
means this U-2 can continue

its decades-long mission.

Plans to replace the U-2 have
been enacted several times,

but the other aircraft, both
piloted and unpiloted,

that were supposed to
replace it over the years

never made the grade.

So, the U-2 perseveres.

So, the reason the U-2
is still doing the job

is because it does the job
better now than it ever has.

What would you do differently?

We've got the
great big, long wing,

we've got the powerful motor.

This airplane has that
cool old '60s style,

but it's got all
kinds of new stuff.

This airplane's better than new.

Every time a U-2 lifts off,

a new chapter is written in the
machine's legacy of altitude

at the edge of space.

2475.

This is a C-5 Super Galaxy.

Biggest plane in the Air Force.
If there's any plane

I could bet my life on,
it'd be the C-5.

The C-5 is unlike
any other airplane to fly.

We can go anywhere,
any place, any time.

This is a behemoth.

The C-5M Super Galaxy

moves the US military
around the world.

It's a big mission,
and it can only be accomplished

by the biggest airplane,
with gargantuan wings

that harness the laws of
physics, engines that eat air,

and wheels strong enough

to carry the largest
aircraft in the Air Force.

We can haul about six
helicopters in here,

two tanks, 36 pallets,
which is pretty cool.

With the capacity for
over 127,000 kilograms of cargo

in its vast interior.

I love the detail,
how it sits on top.

It just kind of towers above

every other airlifter
in the Air Force.

It's about 60 feet high.

If you get
a chance to go up there,

it's a pretty incredible view.

The C-5 Super Galaxy

is the undisputed
big haul champion.

It's 67 metres wide,
19 metres tall,

and 75 metres long.

It crushes any scale
at 250,000 kilograms.

It combines
the individual strengths

of all other Air Force
lifters - speed, range,

and capacity -
into one giant aircraft.

And it all
starts with the wings.

Like everything else about
the C-5, they're monstrous,

weighing over 40,000 kilograms -

big enough to lift
just about anything.

Yeah, wingspan
is about 222 feet wide.

It is a beast.

Right now, where we're standing,

you can see that
this wing's actually sloped.

It's not exactly 90 degrees,
but it's pretty close.

Whenever we're taking off
and we're in flight

and cruise altitude, the wings
are actually more like this to,

you know,
help out with the lift.

But it's really cool that
the C-5 does that because

its wings are so long and the
plane is so heavy itself,

it needs to be able
to adjust to the weight

and the demands that
we're asking it to do.

What you see is wing flex
with the C-5 Galaxy.

This is important to happen

because you don't want
a very stiff wing.

As the C-5 accelerates,

it begins
lifting off the ground.

But as that lift occurs,

the wings are
designed to be flexible

against the wind
that surrounds them.

So, instead of remaining rigid,

they deflect upward about
three-and-a-half metres.

A rigid wing would put too much
stress on the wing root,

where the wings
join the fuselage.

But flexible wings
can handle the massive stress

and keep the incredible weight
of the C-5 in the air.

When an aircraft is
carrying very heavy loads

on very flexible wings,
like the C-5 does all the time,

really small aerodynamic changes

can cause a huge
amount of stress

and performance
impact on the wings.

But there's another
huge factor involved

in getting the C-5 airborne.

To lift as much as the C-5
is capable of transporting,

you have to have
massive forward power.

So, it's a combination
of the aerodynamics

of the huge wings
and amount of raw engine power

that gets it done.

It's all about power,

and each of the aircraft's
four turbofan engines

has plenty of it.

Something this big stays in the
air because of the crazy amount

of thrust
these engines are producing.

It doesn't really feel any
different than your airliner,

except that it's ginormous.

Individually,
they weigh 4,472 kilograms,

are 408 centimetres long,

and 236 centimetres wide.

The C-5 relies
on them to produce

23,000 kilograms of thrust each.

Thrust is the forward power
produced by your engine

that moves your vehicle forward.

The heat we see blasting
out of the jet engine

is evidence of the thrust.

A massive fan pulls air in

at the front of the engine.

Some goes to the engine's core,
while the rest flows around it.

The air
at the core is compressed

by rows of spinning blades.

Fuel mixes with the compressed
air in the combustion chamber

and, with a spark, it ignites.

The hot, rushing fan
spins through turbines,

creating energy that drives
the fan and the compressor.

The leftover air
rockets out the back,

as bypass air
amplifies that thrust,

and together, they propel
the C-5 into the sky.

Heavy hauling takes a toll.

Technicians work on
the engine's ignition systems

to ensure they fire up
for the C-5's next load.

The whole engine itself
needs a lot of attention.

It takes way more maintenance
hours than it does flight hours.

These jets require
a lot of attention

and a lot of
troubleshooting and fixing.

For every couple
hours that it flies,

it's almost double the amount
of time for maintenance.

So, a group of maintainers
remove this slat due to damage

that regularly goes up there,
held together by a couple bolts.

And our slats
are used for aerodynamics.

We'll reinstall this

in 12 to 24 hours and have
this jet back up in the air.

But emergencies
don't book appointments.

That's why the skill

and knowledge of Air Force
maintainers is critical.

The craziest thing
I actually ran into

was with our engines
flying over the ocean,

we had a fuel valve problem

and we had to safely
shut down the engine.

We were running off
of three engines in flight

and it was still completely
safe and that just proves

how reliable and safe this
older aircraft truly still is.

The C-5 takes extreme
cargo up to 128,000 kilograms.

That's double what your
average cargo jet can handle.

I'm a loadmaster on it.
So, what I do is load the plane

and I get to fly with it,
which is super awesome.

Its cargo hold is nearly

four metres high
by six metres wide,

and 43 metres long,

creating
a total interior space

of 962 cubic metres.

It's a warehouse with wings.

The landing gear also
incorporates a kneeling system.

It's one of the keys that lets
the C-5 take anything aboard.

Our kneeling system is based off
of a kneel drive, a motor,

and then these ball screws.
So, we are one of the only jets

in the Air Force that allows
the capabilities to kneel.

The coolest thing
about our aircraft

is that we can load
through the front

by opening up the visor...

...and the forward ramp.

And we can also load
through the back

by opening the
aft doors and the aft ramp,

which can be done
simultaneously.

Whether it be in
truck bed in the back

and driving in the front.

We can be driving things on

and tying stuff down
in the back at the same time.

All this
is easier said than done.

To prepare for today's load,

Staff Sergeant
Taylor Ringgenberg

preps the plane for loading.

Right now,
I'm going to go remove

and stow the locking pins.

It's a long checklist
just to open a door.

Now, I'm going to check the
status of my door panel lights

and I'm gonna ensure
all my lights come on.

Good to go,
all the lights are on.

With all the prep A-okay,

she can start to
open the bay door.

Scanner cargo,

are we clear
to open up the aft door?

And now,
the loading can finally begin.

The biggest thing
that we have to look for

when we're uploading
is the clearances,

as we load very big things.
So, making sure that you're not

going to hit anything is one
of the most important things

of our job.

We're there to supervise
the on and offload

as much as we are to do it.

My main job is to make sure we
don't overload the plane,

and in the eight years
I've been doing it,

never let it happen to me.

Literally,
everything flies on the C-5.

Probably the coolest thing

was the president's limo.

We got to move
Secret Service with them.

So, we had about eight limos
in the back of the C-5.

Another load-out
means another take-off.

It's routine, but impressive.

When we're on
the runway about to take off,

we push our throttles
up right here.

Each engine producing
50,000 pounds of thrust.

You kind of pause a little bit.

You feel like a little bit
sinking in your seat,

and then you're just flying.

Pilot, gear up.

-Coming up.
- I do.

The C-5 uses
the sum of its parts

to be the longest-distance
military airlifter in the world.

It crosses oceans,
with a 194,000-litre gas tank,

delivering around 10,000
kilometres of range,

and landing for
one reason only -

because it has
reached its destination.

It's pretty wild
to land the C-5.

It doesn't feel like you have

an 800,000-pound
aircraft behind you.

CO-PILOT: Clear to land,
checklist complete. Thanks.

And then, you touch down
and I kind of just have

a sigh of relief almost.

And when it lands,
over 195,000 kilograms of force

hits the tarmac on 28 wheels.

But the C-5 can take it,

thanks to some of the world's
toughest shock absorbers.

As soon as we're down,
it's all in the gears.

So, these struts inside
are hydraulic lead

and with nitrogen charge

that allow us
to take that impact

from the airplane
hitting the ground.

Nitrogen acts as
a cushion for hydraulic fluid

inside the gears.

The immense energy
of the landing impact

is converted to heat,

which diffuses through
the gear structure.

When we look at the C-5,
each of those tires has

an inflation pressure
of 200 to 300 psi.

That's huge.

That's about ten times
more than a regular car.

What does that mean? The higher
the pressure inside the tire,

the more weight it can carry.

The tires,

they can caster and freewheel,

so our turns can be tighter
as we're taxiing.

Castering allows
a wheel to pivot

or swivel around
a vertical axis,

giving it much greater
manoeuvrability

for a plane that size.

I would say it's the strongest
aircraft in the Air Force.

So, if there's any plane I could
bet my life on, it'd be the C-5.

A huge load,

massive yet responsive wings,
enormous engines,

together, they make
the impossible possible.

The one and only
C-5 Super Galaxy,

taking to the skies,

moving more than any other.