C-17 tracker: every Boeing C-17 Globemaster III flying right now
The C-17 Globemaster III is the backbone of US military airlift, able to carry tanks, helicopters and hundreds of troops across oceans and land on short, rough runways. Many C-17 flights broadcast their positions, so on most days several are on the map.
Government and military aircraft appear here only when they broadcast their position publicly over ADS-B. Many of their flights do not.
| Flight | Registration | Operator | Type | Altitude | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Boeing C-17 Globemaster III at a glance
- First flight
- September 15, 1991
- Built
- About 280, production ended in 2015
- Where it was built
- Long Beach, California, the former McDonnell Douglas plant
- Callsign to look for
- RCH ("Reach"), used by Air Mobility Command flights
Who flies the C-17
The US Air Force operates by far the largest fleet. The UK's Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, India and Kuwait also fly C-17s, and a group of NATO and partner nations shares a small fleet based in Hungary.
The C-17 was designed by McDonnell Douglas and built in Long Beach, California, the same plant that built the DC-10 and the MD-11. When the last C-17 rolled out in 2015, it ended aircraft production there.
Reading the map
Air Mobility Command flights use the callsign RCH, spoken "Reach", followed by numbers. Busy routes run between US bases and Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific, often through Ramstein in Germany. The C-17 can also reverse on the ground under its own power, using its thrust reversers, which lets it maneuver on small airfields.
Questions
Why can I see military C-17s on a flight tracker?
Many C-17 flights broadcast ADS-B like airliners do, especially on routine logistics flights. Missions that need to stay private simply don't appear.
What does RCH mean in a callsign?
RCH, spoken "Reach", is the callsign prefix used by US Air Force Air Mobility Command flights, including most C-17 and C-5 missions.
Why isn't an aircraft I know is flying on the map?
Positions come from volunteer ADS-B receivers, which only hear aircraft within roughly 200 nautical miles. Over oceans, deserts and parts of Africa and Asia there are few receivers, so an aircraft can vanish mid-flight and reappear near land. Military and some government aircraft also switch their transponders' public data off.
More live trackers
Positions from the adsb.lol volunteer ADS-B network (ODbL). Aircraft are shown only while a receiver can hear them.