Welcome to our "block 2" C-17 tags! These tags now come on our new cards (see main listing photo).
The Moose! The C-17 tag has been on my dream sheet, but I didn't expect to have material anytime soon given its active status and nearly every jet that rolled off the line is still flying.
The C-17 was developed by McDonnell Douglas in the 1980s and was designed to replace the C-141. It carries forward the Globemaster name (previously used with the C-74 and C-124) and is known as the Globemaster III. The C-17A is a tough, versatile aircraft that is capable of performing airlift duties along with medical evacuation and airdrop missions. 279 airframes have rolled off the line and the last was produced in 2015. The “Moose” can operate from fields as short as 3500’ and unimproved runways.
Our C-17 tags were cut from engine cowling/access doors off one of the aircraft’s four F117 engines. These doors were located on either side of the engines and would open to allow for maintenance and engine removal. The cowl doors were found at a boneyard we frequent for parts, and are made from carbon fiber, titanium, stainless steel, and aluminum. These tags are the most structured and interesting we’ve ever released. A huge amount of thought and time went into cutting this material in order to showcase the construction techniques.
We are pleased to offer these tags in 7 variants based on the construction material: Carbon/Titanium, Carbon/Stainless, Carbon/Aluminum, Aluminum, Carbon, Hinge, and Latch. A breakdown of the variants is below.
- The Carbon/Titanium tags were cut from the edge of the cowling doors in between where the latches were located. They feature a carbon front with titanium stiffening elements and titanium screws or rivets. They come with laser etched art.
- The Carbon/Stainless tags feature a carbon and stainless front with backs that are mostly stainless plate. They were also cut from areas in between where the door latches were located. They come with laser etched art.
- The Carbon/Aluminum tags have aluminum riveted or screwed to the carbon skin of the door. Some have a good deal of aluminum on the front and others have it only on the back; some tags are 4 layers thick. These tags were cut from areas that were reinforced with aluminum for rigidity. These are cool tags and no two are alike. They come with laser etched art.
- The Aluminum tags are 100% aluminum skin and were cut from smaller access doors that were fastened to the carbon skin. A couple have stenciling on them. These are flat/thin tags. They come with laser etched art.
- The Carbon tags are 100% carbon fiber; they are clean flat tags and are the most numerous variant. They come with printed art. Despite not having additional structure, these tags are striking with their black art which shows more detail than the etched tags.
- The Hinge tags (there are only 5) were cut from the hinge section between an oil access door and the carbon skin. These tags are slick and feature a moveable hinge on the backside.
- The Latch tags are the thickest and heaviest tags of the bunch. They were cut from the titanium latch mechanism and then had to be extracted. The mechanism itself was 2” thick. We set a cut depth of .5” and then removed the uncut structure after they came off the table. If you like interesting and thick tags, these are it. All have at least one large titanium screw and the back features thick titanium plate in areas. The carbon skin on these is also the juiciest at nearly .25” thick! These aren’t keychains. They come with laser etched art.
Every variant is a stunner and I'm proud of the extra time we spent to highlight the individual parts of the cowl doors. You can walk up to a C-17 and know exactly where your tag was cut from.
This is one of our larger runs at 1000 tags; however, there are only 110 tags with metal on them.
Accompanying these tags is a radical card by BVR depicting the Moose and friends on an airdrop mission.