12-nation Heavy Airlift Wing

[Gerard M]

A new multi-national heavy airlift wing has been established, with their first brand new C-17 taking flight.

by Maj. Cristin Marposon
U.S. Air Forces in Europe Public Affairs

7/16/2009 - RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- Twelve nations saw their dreams of strategic airlift come true July 14 as the multinational Heavy Airlift Wing they've built from scratch in less than a year received the "keys" to its first C-17 Globemaster III.

"This is an unprecedented milestone for these 12 nations," said U.S. Air Force Col. John Zazworsky, who commands the HAW in a multinational capacity. "They've shared a common need for strategic airlift, yet they've each faced the financial obstacle of independently acquiring a heavy airlifter. Now, they collectively own an amazing machine that will serve them well."

During a ceremony at Boeing's final assembly facility in Long Beach, Calif., the colonel officially received the first of three C-17s to be acquired by the Strategic Airlift Capability Program's consortium. The consortium includes NATO member nations Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the United States, as well as Partnership for Peace nations Finland and Sweden.

"Since September 2008 when the consortium's memorandum of understanding went into effect, we've tirelessly worked to build from scratch what's essentially a multinational air force -- without a real template of any kind," explained the colonel. "Our timeline has been aggressive, but we're prepared to safely fly SAC 01."

http://www.usafe.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123158912


A Nice looking plane to start off the fleet with.

[Damian N]

Is it just the California sunshine or is this C-17 a few shades lighter than the rest of breed?

[Gerard M]

When you look at it with other c-17 photos along side it definatly does appear lighter mind you could be the sun. Maybe even a bit bluer? They did say it was rushed to get it up and running...maybe didn't mix the paid as well as they should have

Appears its rego is 08-0001
http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA--...fb9a035749b638

[Nathan Long]

Looks like it's the standard FS 16173 to me.

[Damian N]

.....yes in the Airliners.net photo it appears darker than that Palmdale photo...probably also because it's clean might be a reason why i thought it was lighter.