Gazette reporter Rusty Marks is en route to Iraq, where he will be based with the West Virginia National Guard's 111th Engineer Brigade. Trace his travels, starting with today's story, as he makes his way from Martinsburg to Tikrit, documenting West Virginians' contributions along the way.

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Maintenance crewmen inspect the engine on one of Martinsburg’s massive C-5 Galaxy cargo planes.

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But three days into a combined training flight and cargo run to Germany and the Middle East, crewmembers from Martinsburg's 167th Airlift Wing have made it only as far as New Jersey. Rampant mechanical problems have caused delay after delay for the crew of RCH 0463.

"It's frustrating," Maj. James Powell, flight commander for the mission, conceded Saturday. But in the hurry-up-and-wait world common to all military operations, the setbacks are just par for the course.

Martinsburg got its first C-5 in December 2006. Since then, eight more of the unit's eventual complement of 11 Galaxies have arrived at the airbase in the Eastern Panhandle. Capt. Melissa Shade, public-affairs officer for the 167th, said a transoceanic supply run is scheduled with one of the unit's C-5s every other Friday.

"We've been to Africa," Shade said. "We've been to Qatar. We've probably been to just about every country on the globe."

About the only place the 167th hasn't flown is Antarctica, but even that isn't outside the realm of possibility.

It is difficult to convey exactly how big the C-5 Galaxy really is. The largest aircraft in the world when it first flew in 1969, the 500,000-pound C-5 is still among the top two or three.

More than 247 feet long, 65 feet from the ground to the top of the tail and with a wingspan of almost 223 feet, the Galaxy dwarfs other aircraft. The plane's cargo bay alone is 121 feet long, longer than the first flight made by the Wright brothers.

The tunnel-like cargo area is big enough to hold three main battle tanks or six Greyhound buses. "You can fit the fuselage of a C-130 in here," said Airman First Class Chris Regalia, a 20-year-old graduate of Charles Town's Jefferson High School who was on his first training flight in a C-5.

"The Army is our biggest customer," said Shade. "We carry a lot of their big equipment like tanks and helicopters."

Last week's cargo included pallets loaded with construction materials bound for Kuwait, a truck and a Humvee, to be picked up in New Jersey. The Galaxy is equipped with a nose that tips upward and landing gear that allows the plane to "kneel" for vehicles to drive in. On board were four pilots, 15 crewmen and three journalists.

Gazette reporter Rusty Marks is en route to Iraq, where he will be based with the West Virginia National Guard's 111th Engineer Brigade. Trace his travels, starting with today's story, as he makes his way from Martinsburg to Tikrit, documenting West Virginians' contributions along the way.

McGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. — The C-5 Galaxy cargo plane can circle the globe at 500 mph.

But three days into a combined training flight and cargo run to Germany and the Middle East, crewmembers from Martinsburg's 167th Airlift Wing have made it only as far as New Jersey. Rampant mechanical problems have caused delay after delay for the crew of RCH 0463.

"It's frustrating," Maj. James Powell, flight commander for the mission, conceded Saturday. But in the hurry-up-and-wait world common to all military operations, the setbacks are just par for the course.

Martinsburg got its first C-5 in December 2006. Since then, eight more of the unit's eventual complement of 11 Galaxies have arrived at the airbase in the Eastern Panhandle. Capt. Melissa Shade, public-affairs officer for the 167th, said a transoceanic supply run is scheduled with one of the unit's C-5s every other Friday.

"We've been to Africa," Shade said. "We've been to Qatar. We've probably been to just about every country on the globe."

About the only place the 167th hasn't flown is Antarctica, but even that isn't outside the realm of possibility.

It is difficult to convey exactly how big the C-5 Galaxy really is. The largest aircraft in the world when it first flew in 1969, the 500,000-pound C-5 is still among the top two or three.

More than 247 feet long, 65 feet from the ground to the top of the tail and with a wingspan of almost 223 feet, the Galaxy dwarfs other aircraft. The plane's cargo bay alone is 121 feet long, longer than the first flight made by the Wright brothers.

The tunnel-like cargo area is big enough to hold three main battle tanks or six Greyhound buses. "You can fit the fuselage of a C-130 in here," said Airman First Class Chris Regalia, a 20-year-old graduate of Charles Town's Jefferson High School who was on his first training flight in a C-5.

"The Army is our biggest customer," said Shade. "We carry a lot of their big equipment like tanks and helicopters."

Last week's cargo included pallets loaded with construction materials bound for Kuwait, a truck and a Humvee, to be picked up in New Jersey. The Galaxy is equipped with a nose that tips upward and landing gear that allows the plane to "kneel" for vehicles to drive in. On board were four pilots, 15 crewmen and three journalists.

The C-5 was designed to carry cargo that would usually have to be sent overseas by ship, allowing the military to send heavy material to a war zone in a matter of days instead of weeks or months.

But the aircraft is not known for reliability. The C-5 requires an average of 16 hours of maintenance for every hour it spends in the air. Delays are not uncommon as maintenance crews troubleshoot and fix the myriad problems that seem to constantly crop up on the nearly 40-year-old planes.

Problems for RCH 0463 began Friday, the day the aircraft was scheduled to leave for Germany. A 2 p.m. departure time was pushed to 4:15, then 6:30 as maintenance crews struggled to repair the plane's auxiliary power units, which - among other things - power the plane's air conditioning system. In the passenger compartment above the cargo bay, 38 feet in the air, temperatures climbed to near 100 degrees.

Powell ran through the complicated checklists required to take off, but by 8:30 p.m. the mission had been scrubbed. Crews continued to work on the plane to try again on Saturday.

The C-5 was again scheduled to leave at 2 p.m., but electrical problems cropped up. Then maintenance crews had to repair an actuator for one of the plane's two massive rudders.

RCH 0463 finally left the ground in Martinsburg at 5:15 p.m. Saturday and touched down at McGuire Air Force Base 45 minutes later. But a hydraulic leak shut down operations for the night while work crews tracked down repair parts. The aircraft was scheduled to leave for Germany on Sunday.

Powell said many of Martinsburg's C-5s came from units where they were not especially well maintained. He said the age of the planes - RCH 0463 was built in 1970 - combined with the 167th's inexperience with the aircraft mean lots of maintenance problems. But as crews become more familiar with the planes, he predicts reliability will improve.

Crew members said cargo flights across the ocean can be grueling.

"You're dragging," said Roland Shambaugh from Berkeley Springs, whose brother is running for sheriff in Morgan County.

Shambaugh, a loadmaster aboard the C-5, is 47. A veteran with 26 years of service, he's been on more than his share of cargo flights.

"You get up to altitude and you're cruising at 500 mph. At about 1 a.m. you can see the sun rising on the eastern horizon. You never get used to the time changes."

To contact staff writer Rusty Marks, use e-mail or call 348-1215.