US Air Force Super Galaxy commander describes flying giant plane after landing at Whenuapai

Big and bulky, not so nimble on the ground, but smoother to fly than a business jet, according to its commander.

The scale and inner workings of the giant US Air Force C-5M Super Galaxy became apparent today after it landed at Whenuapai last night.

First Lieutenant Sean Murray, the C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft commander, said Auckland and its surrounds were a beautiful sight last night.

“The mountains were illuminated by the city lights.”

The Super Galaxy arrived at Whenuapai’s Royal New Zealand Air Force Base to deliver components for the new C-130J Hercules simulator.

Murray today was asked about flying the 75m-long military transport aircraft.

“It’s surprisingly an easy jet to fly. It’s so big that moving around on the ground is what kind of gets us in trouble.

“But the plane itself, it has hydraulics and augmentation and [this] allows it to fly better than some of the jets I learned to fly on.”

He said typically it would have 14 crew but with 25 available seats, there is plenty of room.

It had six bunks.

“There’s a lot of room separated even between the pilots, so it’s actually pretty comfy up there,” he added.

“We have three lavatories, three galleys. Each galley comes with an oven and a refrigerator as well.”

The Super Galaxy was big enough to transport a C-130 Hercules, if the wings were removed from the Hercules.

The simulator being delivered would allow pilots, flight engineers and loadmasters to train on the ground, saving airframe lifetimes and generating more sorties for pilots.

Murray said he learned to fly on the T6 Texan, the same aircraft Royal New Zealand Air Force pilots trained on, before he moved on to an Embraer Phenom T1 small business jet.

“The business jet, it actually handles worse than this jet,” he added.

You can view more of today’s new photos of the Super Galaxy below.

The Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin) C-5M Super Galaxy is the largest aircraft flown by the US Air Force. Photo / Dean Purcell

The aircraft is delivering components for the construction of the new C-130J Hercules simulator. Photo / Dean Purcell

1st Lt Sean Murray, the aircraft commander. Photo / Dean Purcell

The USAF C-5M Super Galaxy is big enough to transport a C-130 Hercules if the wings were removed from the Hercules. Photo / Dean Purcell