RAAF airplane retiring after 45 years

BRISBANE, Australia, July 6 (UPI) -- A Caribou A4-140 transport airplane that has been serving the Royal Australian Air Force for 45 years is set to retire, military officials say.

Wing Commander Tony Thorpe, the 38th Squadron's commanding officer, said when the so-called Great Dame of the Skies officially retires from service in November, it will have logged more than 20,000 hours of flight time, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday.

"It definitely is -- it is the end of an era and it will be sad to see the airframe go because a lot of people are very attached to it," Thorpe said.

John Oddie, the commander of the RAAF Air Lift Group Air Commodore, said despite the airplane's loyal service for more than four decades, the transport is no match for modern warfare.

"The types of weapons that are available to be used against our aircraft are a little bit more capable than previously so that's why this aircraft is less relevant today," he told ABC.