Australian Federal Police Commander pulls 190 tonne Air Force plane in world record attempt

You have to see it to believe it. Mental health advocate and Australian Federal Police Commander Grant Edwards has successfully completed a world record attempt at pulling a C-17 aircraft five meters with sheer muscle power.

Once dubbed Australia's strongest man, Mr Edwards showed his amazing level of strength at the Thunder Over Dover airshow, where he managed to pull a US AirForce 190 tonne C-17 Globemaster cargo plane using just his body.

This was tough, I didn't underestimate it, he said.

It mightn't look hard, but it really is.

There's always that little bit in the back of your head that's going, 'oh God, I hope I can actually get this thing moving', so when I did it was a relief, he said.

The C-17 Globemaster III is a military cargo and a high-wing four-engine heavy personnel carrier, stretching 53 metres long, and capable of carrying up to 77 metric tonnes of cargo.

Commander Edwards' personal battle with PTSD and depression was a driving forces behind his efforts. (Supplied: Australian Federal Police

Edwards performed the feat to raise awareness of police mental health, in particular, post-traumatic stress, which he suffers from.

Commander Edwards' personal battle with PTSD and depression, revealed on Australian Story this week, has been one of the driving forces behind his efforts to remove the stigma surrounding mental health in the police force.

We want to raise the profile and let people know it's okay to come forward, it's not a weakness, it's a strength, he said.

We've got to put all the respective paperwork in, but I had to go more than five metres and we did that.

I probably could have gone a little bit further but the main thing was to achieve the record — but most importantly raise the awareness.

Mr Edwards who will be attempting the pull again on August 27 has successfully pulled locomotives, semi-trailers, and a 40-tonne Hercules aircraft, but he said he will need to rest up before attempting anything bigger than a C-17.

I better have a talk to my body I think, people keep telling me age is a number but every year it changes, we'll see how we go, he said.