During early Starlifter operations it became apparent that the aircraft should be able to contain more volume while staying within weight and balance requirements. Lockheed began stretching the C-141A, grafting fuselage segments forward and aft of the wing, converting them to C-141B models. You can clearly see one such “fuselage plug” section in my final photo in the set. YC-141B 66-0186 was the first to achieve such treatment. She became an instrumented test vehicle, proving her design in the skies over Edwards Air Force Base, California.
In 1996, she returned home for retirement. The Starlifters were all born at Air Force Plant 6 in Marietta, Georgia, where she sat without wings for many years until “The Aviation Wing” museum acquired the historic prototype. They towed her to a museum airpark on Plant 6 and replaced the wings. Her restoration continues within eyeshot of the Lockheed plant that she rolled out of in 1966.
