JC wings C-5 galaxy American Airlines

[foundation]

Does anybody know the story behind the pre order C-5 galaxy in American Airlines livery?

http://www.diecastmodelaircraft.com/db/model/66501

Was American contemplating using it for cargo operations?
or is this just a fantasy model?
I tried some googling but didn't come up with much.
Thanks in advance,
Bryn

[mozoom65]

I think it's just a fantasy model that JC Wings created.

[JAL1628]

I've seen a very old large scale model of the American Airlines C-5 somewhere... I think at one point Lockheed intended to market the plane (as the L-500) for commercial use (similar to what Boeing/McDD did w/ the BC-17) but the idea never took.

It's hard to imagine the C-5 as a commercial freighter given the number of man hours req'd on the ground for a single hour of flight time... I'm given to understand the airplane has always been very maintenance intensive. Perhaps we have some USAF veterans out there who can chime in...

Interestingly enough the TF-39 engine developed in concert with the C-5 is credited with spurring high bypass engine development, leading directly to a whole new generation of wide body aircraft.

[fleetlordatvar]

The only info i found also stated it never took off due to costs. It was not known at the time how many man hours it would take to keep it flying, but it likely didn't look good on paper.