← Transportation

Military and Cargo Aircraft

Images of significant aircraft like the IL-76MD and NASA's Shuttle Carrier, emphasizing their roles in military and space transport.

An Italian Air Force KC-767A tanker taxiing at Pratica di Mare Air Base, Italy.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, or SCA, is readied for mating with the space shuttle Discovery at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This SCA, designated NASA 905, is a Boeing 747 jet originally manufactured for commercial use, which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. NASA 905 is assigned to the remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. Discoverys new home will be the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

Airplane Deicing

Royal Saudi Air Force KC-707 tanker landing at Konya Air Base, Turkey.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A buzz of activity surrounds the pathfinder” aircraft for space shuttle Discovery’s ferry flight on the tarmac of the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The NASA C-9 aircraft will fly about 100 miles ahead of Discovery to scout for the safest route between destinations. Its crew includes an SCA flight engineer who studies the weather patterns along the flight path to find a route free of rain and other turbulence. The carrier aircraft, also known as an SCA, is a Boeing 747 jet, originally manufactured for commercial use which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. NASA 905 is scheduled to ferry Discovery to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17, and is assigned to all remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. After its arrival at Dulles, Discovery will be placed on display in the Smithsonian's National Air and

Image of a white flying passenger plane

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., the Atlas Centaur booster segment of an Atlas II rocket is offloaded. It will be mated to the first segment on Launch Pad 36-A, CCAFS, in preparation for launch of the TDRS-I spacecraft Oct. 30. The 40-minute launch window begins at 11:19 p.m. EST. The TDRS System (TDRSS) is a communication signal relay system that provides tracking and data acquisition services between low-Earth orbiting spacecraft and NASA/customer control and/or data processing facilities. The system is capable of transmitting to and receiving data from customer spacecrafts over 100 percent of their orbit (some limitations may apply depending on actual orbit). The TDRS-I provides a Ka-band service that will allow customers with extremely high data rates to be supported by TDRSS if they desire

A VC-25A, known as Air Force One when the President is on board, landed at Westover September 22. The plane is one of two 747-200Bs in the Presidential air transport fleet.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On the runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Orbital Sciences L-1011 carrier aircraft is readied for flight. Once the Pegasus XL rocket with NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array NuSTAR spacecraft is attached, the L-1011 will fly to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site at the Pacific Oceans Kwajalein Atoll. The Pegasus will launch NuSTAR into space where the high-energy x-ray telescope will conduct a census for black holes, map radioactive material in young supernovae remnants, and study the origins of cosmic rays and the extreme physics around collapsed stars.

Northrop Grumman's L-1011 is on the tarmac after touching down at the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, on Oct. 19, 2018. The company's Pegasus XL rocket, containing NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON), is attached beneath the aircraft. The Pegasus XL rocket will launch from the Skid Strip. ICON will study the frontier of space - the dynamic zone high in Earth's atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below meets space weather above. The explorer will help determine the physics of Earth's space environment and pave the way for mitigating its effects on our technology and communications systems.

USA, New Mexico, Roswell: Jet Airliner Storage Facility Airliner at Sunset

USA, California, Los Angeles, Westchester, LAX, Air Force One, USAF Boeing VC-25 carrying president Obama, takes to the skies after departing from the Los Angeles International Airport

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- The Space Shuttle orbiter Endeavour touches down on Runway 15 of the KSC Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) to complete the nearly nine-day STS-89 mission. Main gear touchdown was at 5:35:09 p.m. EST on Jan. 31, 1998. The wheels stopped at 5:36:19 EST, completing a total mission time of eight days, 19 hours, 48 minutes and four seconds. The 89th Space Shuttle mission was the 42nd (and 13th consecutive) landing of the orbiter at KSC, and STS-89 was the eighth of nine planned dockings of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Space Station Mir. STS-89 Mission Specialist Andrew Thomas, Ph.D., succeeded NASA astronaut and Mir 24 crew member David Wolf, M.D., who was on the Russian space station since late September 1997. Dr. Wolf returned to Earth on Endeavour with the remainder of the STS-89 crew, including Commander Terrence Wilcutt; Pilot Joe Edwards Jr.; and Mission Specialists James Reilly, Ph.D.; Michael Anderson; Bonnie Dunbar, Ph.D.; and Salizhan Sharipov with

Cubana de Aviacion aircraft CU-T172, Douglas DC-3A plane, c 1960 subsequently destroyed on 15 April 1961 by a United States air raid at the beginning of the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

Photographed from the F-18 pathfinder aircraft, the Orbital ATK L-1011 Stargazer aircraft is seen flying over the Atlantic Ocean offshore from Daytona Beach, Florida. Attached beneath the aircraft is the Pegasus XL rocket with eight Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System, or CYGNSS, spacecraft. The CYGNSS satellites will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will enable scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a crucial role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes. NOTE: The Dec. 12, 2016 launch attempt was postponed due to a hydraulic pump aboard the Orbital ATK L-1011 aircraft which is required to release the latches holding Pegasus in place, is not receiving power.

A KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft is prepared for a mission as F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft of the 363rd Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW), Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., taxi to the runway during Operation Desert Shield.. Subject Operation/Series: DESERT SHIELD Base: Shaw Air Force Base State: South Carolina(SC) Country: United States Of America(USA)

Ames DC-8 NASA 717 in flight over San Francisco, Ca

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- On a runway at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the Orbital Sciences Stargazer L-1011 aircraft is ready for takeoff with its underbelly cargo of the Pegasus XL rocket-AIM spacecraft. The aircraft will release the Pegasus XL rocket at a drop point over the Pacific Ocean, 100 miles offshore west-southwest of Point Sur, Calif. AIM, which stands for Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere, is being prepared for integrated testing and a flight simulation. The AIM spacecraft will fly three instruments designed to study polar mesospheric clouds located at the edge of space, 50 miles above the Earth's surface in the coldest part of the planet's atmosphere. The mission's primary goal is to explain why these clouds form and what has caused them to become brighter and more numerous and appear at lower latitudes in recent years. AIM's results will provide the basis for the study of long-term variability in the mesospheric climate and its relationship to global c

PATUXENT RIVER, Md. (April 22, 2015) The Navy's unmanned X-47B receives fuel from an Omega K-707 tanker while operating in the Atlantic Test Ranges over the Chesapeake Bay. This test marked the first time an unmanned aircraft refueled in flight.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - The pathfinder” aircraft for space shuttle Discovery’s ferry flight taxis down the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.The NASA C-9 aircraft will fly about 100 miles ahead of Discovery to scout for the safest route between destinations. Its crew includes an SCA flight engineer who studies the weather patterns along the flight path to find a route free of rain and other turbulence. The carrier aircraft, also known as an SCA, is a Boeing 747 jet, originally manufactured for commercial use which was modified by NASA to transport the shuttles between destinations on Earth. NASA 905 is scheduled to ferry Discovery to the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia on April 17, and is assigned to all remaining ferry missions, delivering the shuttles to their permanent public display sites. After its arrival at Dulles, Discovery will be placed on display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- The Integrated Equipment Assembly (IEA), one of two major components of the Starboard 6 (S6) truss segment for the International Space Station (ISS), arrives at the Shuttle Landing Facility aboard NASA's Super Guppy cargo airplane. The customized four-engine aricraft has a 24-foot-diameter fuselage and a foldaway nose enabling it to load and transport oversize cargo. The IEA will be joined to its companion piece, the Long Spacer, before launch early in 2004. The S6 truss segment will be the 11th and final piece of the Station's Integrated Truss Structure and will support the fourth and final set of solar arrays, batteries, and electronics.

F-16 on Flight line, Protective Flag Waving in Wind

A TUI Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft with registration G-TUIK at Stuttgart Airport (STR), Stuttgart, Germany, Europe

DN-SC-88-06545. Base: Naval Air Station, Keflavik Country: Iceland (ISL)

A left rear view of the tail section of the first B-1B bomber testbed aircraft (originally the No. 2 B-1 prototype) at the Air Force Flight Test Center. The aircraft is being prepared for its first test flight. Base: Edwards Air Force Base State: California (CA) Country: United States Of America (USA)

A left side view of a KC-10 Extender aircraft on the flight line. Base: Andrews Air Force Base State: Maryland (MD) Country: United States Of America (USA)

1970s BOEING 747 AIRPLANE OVER WATER TRANSPORTATION COMMERCIAL AVIATION AIR TRAVEL

Cologne Airfield, Germany - An Airbus 340 acting as Air Force One for the German Air Force. In the background is a Bombardier Global Express 5000.

Zurich airport, aviation, airline, Donald Trump, Davos, politics, business, jet, travel, Switzerland, aviation, Boeing, Airbus, Star Alliance, government, economy, world

NASA's Super Guppy airplane arrives in New Orleans, Louisiana on Jan. 31, 2016. The Guppy will transport Orion's Artemis I crew module pressure vessel to Kennedy Space Center for final assembly. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

Europe, Scandinavia, Sweden. Stockholm. Stockholm-Arlanda airport. Jumbo Hostel. Youth hostel in a Boeing 747

DF-ST-86-09958. Base: Paris Country: France (FRA)

A right side view of a C-141 Starlifter aircraft lifting off the runway. Base: Rota Country: Spain (ESP)

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- NASAs Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft and mated Pegasus XL rocket are being attached to Orbital Sciences L-1011 aircraft for launch. IBEX is targeted for launch from the Kwajalein Atoll, a part of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, on Oct. 19. IBEX will be launched aboard the Pegasus rocket dropped from under the wing of the L-1011 aircraft flying over the Pacific Ocean. The Pegasus will carry the spacecraft approximately 130 miles above Earth and place it in orbit. The IBEX satellite will make the first map of the boundary between the Solar System and interstellar space.

Vice President of the United States Joe Biden travels to Alaska to pay his respects for the former Alaska senator, Ted Stevens memorial service Aug. 18. (Air Force

040409-F-6318N-001. Base: Elmendorf Air Force Base State: Alaska (AK) Country: United States Of America (USA)

SOFIA 1st shakedown flight out of WACO, TX

Airshow, Airplane 747, Pratt & Whitney, Mirabel, Province of Quebec, Canada, North America

The world s only airborne ophthalmic surgical and training facility, The ORBIS Flying Eye Hospital s plane recently landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport, Bombay Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Copyright: xManoejxPaateel/DinodiaxPhotox

Airbus Beluga X3 , Transportflugzeug von Airbus *** Airbus Beluga X3 , Transport aircraft from Airbus 1083403282

Biggest plane in the world, the AN-225 Mriya.

Cologne-Bonn Airport, visitor terrace, view of the airport, apron, runway, Planespotter, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

A right front view of a chartered Transamerica DC-10 aircraft carrying members of the 82nd Airborne Division, as they arrive to participate in exercise Bright Star '82. Subject Operation/Series: BRIGHT STAR '82 Base: Cairo West Air Base State: Al Qahirah Country: Egypt (EGY)

Two Boeing 707 aircraft, equipped with Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar Systems (J-STARS), sit on the tarmac at Rhein Main Air Base, Germany. They have a 40-foot radome under the forward part of the fuselage housing the phased-array radar antenna. An A model is on the right and a C model is on the left. J-STARS is a long range, air-to-ground surveillance and battle management system. When in flight the radar can detect and track more than 120 miles of terrain providing the battle commander with invaluable information about troop movement and position. The information is fed to the 17 Army and Air Force operators who have access to the radar data in real-time via on-board large.... Complete Scene Caption: Two Boeing 707 aircraft, equipped with Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar Systems (J-STARS), sit on the tarmac at Rhein Main Air Base, Germany. They have a 40-foot radome under the forward part of the fuselage housing the phased-array radar antenna. An A model is on the rig

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Ukrainian Antonov-124 transport aircraft arrives at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with the first stage of the Atlas V rocket that will carry the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-K, into orbit. The booster stage, arriving from the United Launch Alliance manufacturing plant in Decatur, Ala., will be taken to the hangar at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center at Cape Canaveral.Launch of the TDRS-K on the Atlas V rocket is planned for January 2013 from Space Launch Complex 41. The TDRS-K spacecraft is part of the next-generation series in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, a constellation of space-based communication satellites providing tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services.

A McDonnell Douglas MD-83 of the island Air with registration number P4-MDG at the airport of St. Maarten (SXM), Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, North America

Artwork: "Ways to Push Technology". Artist: Gordon Phillips, US Air Force Art Collection. Country: Unknown

DN-SC-88-06540. Base: Naval Air Station, Keflavik Country: Iceland (ISL)

The DC3 Weather Vane outside the Yukon Transportation Museum near Whitehorse International Airport, Yukon Territory, Canada

A charter aircraft loaded with Haitian migrants lifts off from Guantanamo Bay bound for the United States. The Haitians have been granted parole to the United States. Subject Operation/Series: SEA SIGNAL Base: Guantanamo Bay Country: Cuba (CUB)

Triebwerk des Airbus A380-800 namens Frankfurt am Main pr Triebwerk des Airbus A380-800 namens Frankfurt am Main pr ,property released Copyright: xZoonar.com/AndreasxPulweyx 1996275 ,model released, Symbolfoto ,property released

Trip to Mexico: Departure ceremonies, 11:15AM. President John F. Kennedy waves as he and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (partially visible in doorframe) board Air Force One, following their state visit to Mexico. Also pictured: General Cristóbal Guzmán Cárdenas; U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Thomas C. Mann; Chief of Protocol of Mexico, Federico A. Mariscal; White House Secret Service agents, Gerald A. Jerry Behn, Roy Kellerman, Ernie Olsson, and Dave Grant. Benito Juárez International Airport, Mexico City, Mexico.

The first Patriot Express flight arrives from Baltimore/Washington International Airport to Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England, Sept. 20, 2022. The Patriot Express flight, also known as the rotator, is a Department of Defense contracted commercial charter flight which provides international support to U.S. military and civilian members and their families permanently changing station to the United Kingdom.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - A Beluga aircraft taxis on the runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility on NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The Beluga carries the European Space Agency's research laboratory, designated Columbus, flown to Kennedy from its manufacturer in Germany. The module will be prepared for delivery to the International Space Station on a future space shuttle mission. Columbus will expand the research facilities of the station and provide researchers with the ability to conduct numerous experiments in the area of life, physical and materials sciences.

DN-SC-85-07914. Base: Natc, Patuxent River State: Maryland (MD) Country: United States Of America (USA)

One of the so called Raisin Bombers in the Museum of Technology in Berlin, Germany

USA, Colorado, Denver, Wings over the Rockies, Air and Space Museum, B-52 bomber

DF-ST-86-09968. Base: Paris Country: France (FRA)

Japanese airline, Franz-Josef Strauss Airport Munich, Bavaria, Germany, Europe

NASA deployed two F/A-18 research aircraft from NASAs Armstrong Flight Research Center in California to fly the Quiet Supersonic Flights 2018 campaign, or QSF18. Having more than one aircraft allows pilots to conduct quick turnarounds with different aircrews between flights, fitting in as many targeted research flights as necessary.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. - The Italian-built module, U.S. Node 2, for the International Space Station is offloaded from a Beluga aircraft at the Shuttle Landing Facility. The second of three Station connecting modules, Node 2 attaches to the end of the U.S. Lab and provides attach locations for the Japanese laboratory, European laboratory, the Centrifuge Accommodation Module and, later, Multipurpose Logistics Modules. It will provide the primary docking location for the Shuttle when a pressurized mating adapter is attached to Node 2. Installation of the module will complete the U.S. Core of the ISS. Node 2 is the designated payload for mission STS-120. No orbiter or launch date has been determined yet.

DN-ST-86-05932. Base: Naval Air Station Patuxent River State: Maryland (MD) Country: United States Of America (USA)

An Airbus Beluga” air cargo plane, The Super Transporter, lands at KSC’s Shuttle Landing Facility. Its cargo, from the factory of Alenia Aerospazio in Turin, Italy, is the Italian Space Agency’s Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Donatello, the third of three for the International Space Station. The module will be transported to the Space Station Processing Facility for processing. Among the activities for the payload test team are integrated electrical tests with other Station elements in the SSPF, leak tests, electrical and software compatibility tests with the Space Shuttle (using the Cargo Integrated Test equipment) and an Interface Verification Test once the module is installed in the Space Shuttle’s payload bay at the launch pad. The most significant mechanical task to be performed on Donatello in the SSPF is the installation and outfitting of the racks for carrying the various experiments and cargo

Vikers Viscount. Medium-range airliner driven by four turboprop engines. Variants: Type 784. Production variant for Philippine Air Lines with Dart 510s, 48 seats and slipper tanks, three built, first delivered in May 1957. Maritime and Science Museum. Malmo. Sweden.

DN-ST-86-01516. Base: Helsinki Country: Finland (FIN)

Zurich airport, aviation, airline, Donald Trump, Davos, politics, business, jet, travel, Switzerland, aviation, Boeing, Airbus, Star Alliance, government, economy, world

Air Force One, the VC-137C Stratoliner aircraft used to transport the president, sits in a roped-off area near the terminal building at Tempelhof Central Airport during President Reagan's visit to Berlin. Base: West Berlin Country: Deutschland / Germany (DEU)

Airbus Beluga XL Transporter, 22. 06. 2005. ILA International Aerospace Exhibition Berlin, Schoenefeld, Brandenburg, Germany, Europe

A C-9A Nightingale aircraft of the 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing, foreground, and a West German C-160 Transall aircraft are unloaded on the ramp. Base: Rhein-Main Air Base Country: Deutschland / Germany (DEU)

Space Shuttle Transport Jet

United Airlines, jet, travel, airline, airliners, airplane, airline travel, trav

Airbus Beluga X3 , Transportflugzeug von Airbus *** Airbus Beluga X3 , Transport aircraft from Airbus 1083403280

NASA African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (NAMMA) DC-8 deployment to Cape Verde, Sal island, Africa

Inside the Air Force One Pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, Simi Valley, CA

An air-to-air side view of a 438th Airlift Wing, C-141 Starlifter, flying over the Atlantic Ocean with Atlantic City in background. The C-141, tail #70166, with a white painted fuselage is used to transport senior civilian and military officials. Exact Date Shot Unknown. Base: Mcguire Air Force Base State: New Jersey (NJ) Country: United States Of America (USA)

China Southern Airlines Boeing 777-300ER aircraft registration B-209Y at Guangzhou Airport (CAN), Guangzhou, China, Asia

Congressional Delegation Oversight Visit - 26-HK-7-159. USA aircraft preparing to depart from ATC ramp. Hurricane Katrina

Artwork: "EC-135, Grissom AFB, IN" Artist: Bill Miller, USAF Art Collection. Country: Unknown

Silkway Boeing 747-4R7F Cargo on the taxiway to the terminal, along a road, cycle path, near Hoofddorp, on the Polderbaan, a runway in the west of Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, aircraft rolls to the terminal after landing, Netherlands

Amsterdam International Airport Schiphol. Boeing 747, Jumbo Jet, Amsterdam, Holland, NLD, Netherlands

Luton (LTN), July 8, 2019: A Gulfstream Aerospace G650ER aircraft with registration N305CC at London Luton Airport in the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Europe

USA, California, Los Angeles, Westchester, LAX, Air France operated Airbus A380 mere seconds from touch down at the Los Angeles International Airport, passes above popular plane spotting location at the corner of Sepulveda Boulevard and West 92nd Street

Airbus Beluga X3 , Transportflugzeug von Airbus *** Airbus Beluga X3 , Transport aircraft from Airbus 1083403281

Vintage Photograph. DE ICING 727 DURING SNOWSTORM. United airlines plane undergoing de-icing on a snowy runway.

Wien Consolidated Airlines being loaded at the Nome Airport ca. March 1974.

Frankfurt, Germany - February 13, 2021: AirBridgeCargo Boeing 747-8F airplane at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) in Germany. Boeing is an American aircraft manufacturer headquartered in Chicago.

IL-76MD military transport aircraft of the Russian Air Force over Russia.

USA, California, Los Angeles, Westchester, LAX, Air Tahiti Nui operated Airbus A340-313X widebody jet waits to cross the tarmac as American Airlines Boeing 777-223(ER) takes to the skies from the Los Angeles International Airport

Family of boat owner performs puja on new boat by making hand prints along its hull prior to maiden launch, Vanakbara, Gujarat, India, Asia

A stranded aircraft in the jungle

A DC-4 cargo plane in a snowstorm in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.

1980 - A security policeman and sentry dog watch as a Jordanian airliner departs with King and Queen Hussein Bin-Talal aboard..

of 2