The KC-135 Will Make 100 Years In Service Soon

[Daryl Hunt]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

Some of those tankers are over 50 years old.
The Boing 707 was built tough.

 

[bodecea]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

100 years? Really? Since 1919?

 

[Daryl Hunt]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

Some of those tankers are over 50 years old.
The Boing 707 was built tough.

At first glance, it looks like a 707 but it's actually an older design by at least 2 years.

The first flight of the KC-135 and the year it went into service was 1955. The first flight of the 707 was 1957 and it went into commercial service in 1958. They share many of the same subsystems but the airframes are different and so is the inside wings. The KC-135 is smaller in diameter in the Fuselage than the 707 and the 135 has slight less of a wingspan.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

100 years? Really? Since 1919?

Let me guess, you can sit on a lifesaver and tell what flavor it is. When the KC-135 goes out of service it will be over 100 years old. They "Think" that will be sometime in the 2060s, about the same time the Buff will have to be taken out of service but remember, the oldest Buff in service was made in 1961 while the AF is still flying the original 1955 vintage KC-135.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

100 years? Really? Since 1919?

Let me guess, you can sit on a lifesaver and tell what flavor it is. When the KC-135 goes out of service it will be over 100 years old. They "Think" that will be sometime in the 2060s, about the same time the Buff will have to be taken out of service but remember, the oldest Buff in service was made in 1961 while the AF is still flying the original 1955 vintage KC-135.

I have watched a refueling from the boom operator's jump seat just like in that video.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

100 years? Really? Since 1919?

Let me guess, you can sit on a lifesaver and tell what flavor it is. When the KC-135 goes out of service it will be over 100 years old. They "Think" that will be sometime in the 2060s, about the same time the Buff will have to be taken out of service but remember, the oldest Buff in service was made in 1961 while the AF is still flying the original 1955 vintage KC-135.

I have watched a refueling from the boom operator's jump seat just like in that video.

In Ubon RTAB in 1971, we were glued to our Radios listening to the exchange between pilots of supporting
AC and a sticken F-4 that was trying to make it home. The F-4 had been hit hard trying to protect our Gunships by sams and AA. He was leaking fuel bad, one engine gone, the other engine was slowly losing power. The Bomb Nav had already punched out. The Pilots ejection seat malfunctioned and he couldn't get out. He was slowly losing altitude. The other F-4s went as far as to invert and try and keep him up by going belly to belly. The call went out to get a Tanker to respond. A tanker could have latched onto him and taken him all the way in with the Boom as Tankers had done numerous times. The problem was, the closest tanker was just a minute too far away. The sticken F-4 went down 2 miles before the runway. Parts were scattered all the way to the overrun of the Runway. Needless to say, the pilot didn't make it. One of the recovered engines was bent in the middle in an L. This is just how important a Tanker really is.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

100 years? Really? Since 1919?

Let me guess, you can sit on a lifesaver and tell what flavor it is. When the KC-135 goes out of service it will be over 100 years old. They "Think" that will be sometime in the 2060s, about the same time the Buff will have to be taken out of service but remember, the oldest Buff in service was made in 1961 while the AF is still flying the original 1955 vintage KC-135.

One time we landed so hard that a landing gear strut collapsed.
When we got out to look at the plane we saw that the pilot side engines were only about two feet off the ground.
The pilot did a great job of keeping it going straight.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

100 years? Really? Since 1919?

Let me guess, you can sit on a lifesaver and tell what flavor it is. When the KC-135 goes out of service it will be over 100 years old. They "Think" that will be sometime in the 2060s, about the same time the Buff will have to be taken out of service but remember, the oldest Buff in service was made in 1961 while the AF is still flying the original 1955 vintage KC-135.

One time we landed so hard that a landing gear strut collapsed.
When we got out to look at the plane we saw that the pilot side engines were only about two feet off the ground.
The pilot did a great job of keeping it going straight.

We had one catch on fire inflight. It was smoking when it started to land. The Pilot had the forthought to get it off the runway and onto the grass next to the runway. It was still rolling when the crew exited the bird. The Nav went out the exit hole first but he still held onto the end of the rope which was longer than the hole was deep. The Boom landed on him which both actions severely messed up the Navs back. The Pilot went out of one side window and the Co went out the Other (not exactly as per evac procedures). The bird finally rolled to a stop with it's brakes locked and engines T-handled. Then the fire got serious. The LOX unit blew over 200 feet in the air when it went. In the end, the bird was actually saved and it took a few months to get it back to fly. The only injuries were the Navs back and a inhalation injury of one of the Fire Fighters. I don't know of one single AC that could have been recovered from something like that. BTW, the Evac Procedures had to be rewritten after that.

 

[TroglocratsRdumb]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

100 years? Really? Since 1919?

Let me guess, you can sit on a lifesaver and tell what flavor it is. When the KC-135 goes out of service it will be over 100 years old. They "Think" that will be sometime in the 2060s, about the same time the Buff will have to be taken out of service but remember, the oldest Buff in service was made in 1961 while the AF is still flying the original 1955 vintage KC-135.

One time we landed so hard that a landing gear strut collapsed.
When we got out to look at the plane we saw that the pilot side engines were only about two feet off the ground.
The pilot did a great job of keeping it going straight.

We had one catch on fire inflight. It was smoking when it started to land. The Pilot had the forthought to get it off the runway and onto the grass next to the runway. It was still rolling when the crew exited the bird. The Nav went out the exit hole first but he still held onto the end of the rope which was longer than the hole was deep. The Boom landed on him which both actions severely messed up the Navs back. The Pilot went out of one side window and the Co went out the Other (not exactly as per evac procedures). The bird finally rolled to a stop with it's brakes locked and engines T-handled. Then the fire got serious. The LOX unit blew over 200 feet in the air when it went. In the end, the bird was actually saved and it took a few months to get it back to fly. The only injuries were the Navs back and a inhalation injury of one of the Fire Fighters. I don't know of one single AC that could have been recovered from something like that. BTW, the Evac Procedures had to be rewritten after that.

Once at Dyess they had a AFR Tanker take off with it's flaps up.
It was so low that the landing gear clipped the perimeter fence and it rolled.
It had dependents on board.
No survivors.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

The B52 is scheduled to continue service into the 2050's. The Browning M2 has been used by the military for 90 years and the .45 has been issued for over 100. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

The B52 is scheduled to continue service into the 2050's. The Browning M2 has been used by the military for 90 years and the .45 has been issued for over 100. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

The Buff really isn't flown that much. The KC-135 is. The 1911 is pretty much out of the service these days and only special forces carry it if they want. Then again, Spec Ops can opt to carry a blender if they want. The Mah Deuce may look the same but they finally got rid of that hard to change barrel. If you ever fired one, after so many rounds you had to do a barrel change. It was closer to pulling your own teeth and about as painful. They did fix that.

 

[rightwinger]

100 years is impressive

It would be like using a WWI biplane today

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

The B52 is scheduled to continue service into the 2050's. The Browning M2 has been used by the military for 90 years and the .45 has been issued for over 100. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

The Buff really isn't flown that much. The KC-135 is. The 1911 is pretty much out of the service these days and only special forces carry it if they want. Then again, Spec Ops can opt to carry a blender if they want. The Mah Deuce may look the same but they finally got rid of that hard to change barrel. If you ever fired one, after so many rounds you had to do a barrel change. It was closer to pulling your own teeth and about as painful. They did fix that.

Fire enough continuous rounds and you have to change the barrel of the M2 like all of these old weapons platform even the 135 has had upgrades.

 

[Marion Morrison]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

100 years? Uhmm, No.

 

[bodecea]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

100 years? Really? Since 1919?

Let me guess, you can sit on a lifesaver and tell what flavor it is. When the KC-135 goes out of service it will be over 100 years old. They "Think" that will be sometime in the 2060s, about the same time the Buff will have to be taken out of service but remember, the oldest Buff in service was made in 1961 while the AF is still flying the original 1955 vintage KC-135.

Nice math.....and yet you have no proof it will last until the 2060s....which is a loooooooong way away.

 

[bodecea]

The B52 is scheduled to continue service into the 2050's. The Browning M2 has been used by the military for 90 years and the .45 has been issued for over 100. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Yeah...I feel for those crews....they were aborting take offs more often than not for mechanical issues in the 1980s.....

 

[Daryl Hunt]

It's not sexy. It's not pretty. It isn't fast. It certainly isn't ugly. And it's been known to get stricken aircraft home just by the power of it's boom. It's been barred from flying for the around the world speed records. It's the superman when it's needed. And it's needed each and every day.

100 years? Really? Since 1919?

Let me guess, you can sit on a lifesaver and tell what flavor it is. When the KC-135 goes out of service it will be over 100 years old. They "Think" that will be sometime in the 2060s, about the same time the Buff will have to be taken out of service but remember, the oldest Buff in service was made in 1961 while the AF is still flying the original 1955 vintage KC-135.

Nice math.....and yet you have no proof it will last until the 2060s....which is a loooooooong way away.

Let's see. They were supposed to replace it in the 70s with the KC-10, Didn't happen. The KC-10 could pick up more gas than the old KC-135A but it took a much longer runway. Now, we have the KC-135R that takes 1/3rd of the runway the old A did and uses a fraction of the fuel and carries 50K more fuel in the tanks. All of a sudden even the KC-10 doesn't carry any more fuel than the KC-135R. Now they are trying to get the KC-46 working. I think it's going to be like the KC-10 and be used primarily for long fighter over water flights. The KC-10 is needed to be taken out of service. I think the difference is, the KC-10 and the KC-46 started out lives as Commercial Airliners but have been adapted to a Tanker. Meanwhile, the KC-135 was designed from the ground up as a Tanker from day one. The Commercial Airliner was adapted from the Tanker for the 707. In comparison, the KC-135 is built more like a Tank when compared to the 707. This is why it's lasted so long and it keeps right on flying. That and the upgrades it continuously receives. There is no reason it can't be kept in service at least as long as the Buff which isn't build nearly as rugged.

 

[Daryl Hunt]

The B52 is scheduled to continue service into the 2050's. The Browning M2 has been used by the military for 90 years and the .45 has been issued for over 100. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Yeah...I feel for those crews....they were aborting take offs more often than not for mechanical issues in the 1980s.....

Funny, I was stationed at Ellsworth, AFB in the 80s and we didn't seem to have that problem with either the Buffs or the Tankers. Stop making shit up.