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Milestone Monday: KC-135R Stratotanker

Scott Wolff No Comments Military Aviation

Good evening, FighterSweep Fans! We hope you’ve had a great start to your work-week, and what would a Monday be without sharing a significant milestone in the aviation world.

Once again we are celebrating everything great about the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker–the backbone of our nation’s air-to-air refueling capability. On this day 59 years ago, the very first of its kind took to the sky and the United States Air Force has never been the same. As we stated previously, the “Iron Maiden” is one of only six aircraft to have fifty years of continuous service with its initial operator.

And though the -135 is in the twilight of her career with the Air Force, with the impending fielding of the KC-46 Pegasus, there are still many years of good service life left in the ol’ girl. Nearly two hundred will be replaced by the Pegasus, and the others will remain in service as long as they are viable, then slowly pass into the history books as the most prolific air refueling platform in history.

NKAWTG!

SwampFox_Refueling

KC-135R by the numbers:

  • Vietnam: 813,000 aerial refuelings of combat aircraft
  • Desert Storm: 8,700 hookups and transferred 278 million pounds of fuel
  • 820: Number of C/KC-135s built by Boeing for refueling and other purposes
  • Range: 5,000 miles
  • Maximum Gross Weight: 297,000 pounds
  • Top Speed: 600mph
  • Ceiling: 41,000 feet

(Featured photo by Scott Wolff)

 

About the Author

Scott Wolff is an accomplished writer and renowned aviation photojournalist. He has held the position of Managing Editor for a print flying lifestyle magazine, and is the Host and Editor for FighterSweep. Scott's area of expertise is military flight operations, drawing on ten years of experience working extensively with all branches of the armed forces. He holds an FAA pilot certificate, the culmination of a life-long passion for flying airplanes. Scott has received military altitude chamber training, emergency egress training, and has logged time in a variety of civilian and military aircraft. He is also a member of the International Society of Aviation Photographers and Nikon Professional Services.

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