My ears perk up anytime I hear the call-sign "Reach" over the radio, and so, I managed to barely make it in time to a location near Runway 27-Center at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport ( ICAO : KORD / IATA : ORD ) to watch this beast do a short takeoff roll and leap into the sky after dropping off the Presidential motorcade and support vehicles in advance of President Joe Biden's visit on Wednesday, July 7th.

It's a rarity around these parts to see anything other than commercial aircraft with a little bit of general aviation aircraft occasionally mixed in, so seeing a dark gray military transport aircraft really helped make my day.

This particular C-17A is a Joint Base Lewis-McChord-based aircraft in Washington State with the active-duty 62nd Airlift Wing ( 62d Airlift Wing / 62nd AW / 62 AW ) and the 442nd Airlift Wing ( 442nd AW) Air Reserve unit.

From Wikipedia: "The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force ( USAF ) from the 1980s until the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previous piston-engined military cargo aircraft, the Douglas C-74 Globemaster and the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II. The C-17 commonly performs tactical and strategic airlift missions, transporting troops and cargo throughout the world; additional roles include medical evacuation and airdrop duties. It was designed to replace the Lockheed C-141 Starlifter, and also fulfill some of the duties of the Lockheed C-5 Galaxy.

Boeing, which merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, continued to manufacture C-17 aircraft after the merger. The transport is in service with the U.S. Air Force along with air arms of India, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, NATO Heavy Airlift Wing, and Kuwait. The final C-17 was completed at the Long Beach, California plant and flown on 29 November 2015."

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joseg2143 Chicago O'Hare Int'l Airport Plane Spotting / Aircraft Spotting / Flight Tracking / Planespotting / Aircraft Photography

Thank you for taking the time to watch this video. I hope you enjoyed it!

Recorded on Saturday, July 3rd, 2021 with a Samsung Galaxy S9+.