Mini C-17 touches down at "wings over Pittsburgh." Published June 26, 2007 By Major Bill Walsh 315th Airlift Wing Public Affairs PITTSBURGH ARB, PA -- With two giant C-17 Globemasters on the ramp, thousands of people were in awe of something they have never seen before, the "Mini C-17" from Charleston Air Force Base. "Does it fly?" Asked eight year old Andy Olzcak who was one of the over 300 thousand spectators at the annual "Wings Over Pittsburgh" airshow held every June. "That's the most asked question we get," said TSgt. Jaime Citron of Charleston's 315th Airlift Wing's mini C-17 team. "Everyone was so impressed." "This is the first air show we've actually flown the mini to," explained SSgt. Ed Del Valle, a Charleston maintainer who helped take the replica to the steel city. The mini C-17 is a one of a kind, working and driving scale model of the much larger Globemaster which took around two years to build. "The recruiters love us," said SSgt. Del Valle. "We had all kinds of people coming over and talking about what we do in Charleston." Flying the "mini" on the real thing takes some unique logistical movements by the loadmasters as they drive the Ford F-350 super duty pick-up with the 40 foot trailer in tow! "The hardest thing is building the ramp," said SSgt. Del Valle as he described the process to get the rig onto the airplane. "Driving it on is easy, but it takes a lot of wood to build it up." Along with the mini C-17, Team Charleston provided the crowd with a spectacular air demonstration which ended as the crowed of thousands counted off the amount of seconds it took to stop the airlifter. "They love the assault landing," said Lt. Col. Jeff Smith of Charleston's 300th Airlift Squadron." "After all the small planes, the giant one is the most impressive," said Doug Geist, a native of Pittsburgh who attends the show yearly. "I'm just amazed."