Lockheed C-141B Startlifter "Golden Bear"

The Golden Bear, C-141A Starlifter, 63-8088 was the first delivery to an operational unit, made on 23 April 1965 to the 44th Air Transport Squadron, 1501st Air Transport Wing, Travis Air Force Base, California. Since the late 1960s the "Golden Bear" flew in almost every major military contingency and humanitarian operation in which Travis AFB participated. The operations included military flights to Southwest Asia, Panama, Honduras, and Grenada and the airlift of relief victims of natural disasters in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Mexico City. In 1973 it brought home 566 military and 25 civilian prisoners of war from North Vietnam. The GOLDEN BEAR was the first C-141A from Travis AFB to fly into Saigon, initiating a mammoth shuttle service between Travis and Vietnam that lasted several years. When the original Starlifter model, designated C-141A, entered service in 1965, it could carry 154 passengers, 123 paratroopers or 80 litters for wounded with seating for 16. It was soon discovered that the aircraft's volume capacity was relatively low in comparison to its lifting capacity; it generally ran out of physical space before it hit its weight limit. To correct the perceived deficiencies of the original model and utilize the C-141 to the fullest of its capabilities, the entire fleet of 270 in-service C-141As were stretched, adding needed payload volume. These modified aircraft were designated C-141B. Golden Bear returned to Marietta, Georgia in 1980 to be modified. It was estimated that this stretching program was equivalent to buying 90 new aircraft, in terms of increased capacity. The aircraft remained in service for over 40 years until the USAF withdrew the last C-141s from service in 2006. The Travis Air Museum and Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space Museum Education Foundation, with support from the 60th Air Mobility Wing Civil Engineers, restored this historic aircraft in 2005. The aircraft, now the best preserved C-141 in the Air Force as well as the most historic, rests next to the Oath of Enlistment wall at the intersection of Burgan Boulevard and Travis Avenue below the old hospital. Signed and Numbered prints are available directly from the Artist. See more...