C-17A 07-7173 operated by 436th Air Wing at Dover Air Force Base, on the Delmarva Peninsula

Work continues outside on the flight line. This C-17 05-5150 is from the 15th Airlift Wing in Hawaii

NATO's Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) aircraft #2 in for heavy maintenance. SAC has three C-17 aircraft in its squadron. C-17s can spend an average of 160 days going through heavy maintenance

C-17A 05-5141 of the 452nd Air Mobility Wing, March Air Reserve Base, California

Every C-17 is thoroughly stripped down and, on average, more than 19,000 hours of labour are spent on heavy maintenance

Workers on the C-17A 08-0002 tied off on a safety line

The C-17A 00-0177, from the New York Air National Guard's 105th Airlift Wing, in for its depot maintenance

The interior cargo hold of a C-17 with the wing centre fuel tank visible