Royal Air Force returns to the skies above Eagle County
Lincoln Holley via Unsplash
Some of the planes you may be seeing — and hearing — above Eagle this week are definitely bigger than the average jet.
The Royal Air Force is conducting “routine high-altitude training in the area,” said David Reid, director of aviation at the Eagle County Regional Airport.
The planes — McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III military transport aircraft — aren’t actually touching down at the airport, just making low passes overhead, which is why they sound so much louder than the average plane.
A standard C-17 is 55 feet tall, has a wingspan of nearly 170 feet and can haul 171,000 pounds of cargo.
The Eagle County area is renowned for its high-altitude training opportunities, with the U.S. Department of Defense’s only high-altitude aviation training site located at the Eagle County Regional Airport.
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NASA astronauts preparing for the Artemis program are using the area as a training ground as well.
The Royal Air Force is the aerial and space branch of the United Kingdom’s armed forces, and is a longtime ally of the U.S. military going back to World War II.
The Royal Air Force conducted training missions above Eagle County last summer as well.
