Warbird Information Exchange

This airplane looks like a C-17! Just wondering why they are using turbo props and not a high bypass? Rolls Royce has the Trent 1000 that wold work real well on this bird. Is this airplane meant to compete with the C-17?

C-17 Globemaster sets 13 new records at Edwards
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFMCNS) – Demonstrating the Air Force’s newest cargo aircraft’s capabilities, a C-17A Globemaster III crew here broke 13 altitude and payload world records Nov. 27.
A crew from the 418th Flight Test Squadron, set the dozen plus aviation world records that brings the C-17’s total world records to 33.
"These records highlight the capabilities of the C-17, which is providing crucial airlift support to our country’s worldwide operations," said Capt. Chris Morgan, mission commander on one of the historic flights. "It was not an extraordinary effort, with the exception that we flew to within a few knots of the stall speed, something an operational crew would not normally do."
The crew flew three sorties to set maximum altitude records for payloads ranging from no payload to 88,200 pounds. Maximum altitudes were achieved by first burning down to the minimum fuel required to return to base and land and then climbing the aircraft as high as possible.
An observer from the National Aeronautic Association, the governing body for U.S. record attempts, was on board for all three sorties to verify the records.
One altitude record set was steady horizontal flight in which the aircraft had to maintain a constant airspeed and altitude for at least 90 seconds. The aircraft maintained an unofficial level altitude of 44,430 feet with a 22,100-pound payload. Altitudes of 43,820 and 45,500 feet were also reached carrying 88,200 and 22,100-pound payloads, respectively.
According to test pilot Maj. Chris Lindell, the aircraft was ready to keep going.
"The maximum altitude achieved for the lower weights attempted was 45,500 feet, which was based on an operating restriction for the engines," Lindell said. "The aircraft could have gone higher."
On Nov. 26, the NAA representative monitored the official aircraft weighing at Edwards. The payload used to reach the required weights consisted of large blocks of concrete chained to pallets.
The C-17 loadmasters, weight and balance hangar staff, and airdrop shop personnel worked together to make sure the loads and placement in the aircraft were optimized for the flight.
"This effort took a great deal of coordination among multiple Team Edwards organizations," said Maj. Mark Foringer, C-17 Test Team director. "Overall, it was a huge success."
The record-setting crew consisted of test pilots Lindell, Morgan, Maj. Todd Markwald and Boeing test pilot Norm Howell along with loadmasters Tech. Sgt.Tom Fields and Gary Briscoe of Boeing.
The records broken at Edwards Nov. 27 were reported to the Federation Aeronautique International, or FAI -- the official record keeper for all aviation and space world records and oversees national aviation organizations of all member countries. World-class records are defined as the best international performances for specific classes and categories recognized by the FAI.
The C-17 records were set in the category designated for landplanes with jet engines and a takeoff gross weight between 330,693 and 440,924 pounds.

http://www.mcchordairmuseum.org/REV%20B%20OUR%20HISTORY%20%20C-17%200171.htm

hum, I doubt the C-17 was develloped to doing the same job than C-130, operating on the same thing of runway.