Boeing NKC-135A Stratotanker
In one of the great ironies of aviation history, the KC-135 Stratotanker, the most successful aerial tanker ever built, was never meant to serve more than ten years, let alone the over fifty it has. With jet bombers such as the B-47 and B-52 coming into service, Strategic Air Command’s fleet of KB-29s and KC-97s clearly would not be adequate—an all-jet tanker was needed as well. Lockheed won the USAF competition in 1954 with its L-193 proposal, but it would be some time before the L-193 would be operational.
Needing jet tankers immediately, the USAF turned to Boeing, which already had a four-engined jet transport flying—the Model 367 “Dash 80” private-venture demonstrator. Boeing, since it was already producing both the B-47 and the B-52, as well as the KC-97, had no trouble convincing the USAF that the Dash 80 could be converted to the tanker role, and the USAF duly ordered 250 “interim” KC-135As until the L-193 could come online.
In the end, the L-193 never made it off the drawing board: the KC-135 was easy to fly, easy to operate, and had all the speed and range necessary for its mission. The 250 “interim” aircraft would grow to a final order of over 800 airframes. In the process, the KC-135’s success also ensured that airlines took a closer look at the Dash 80, which resulted in an upscaled version: the very successful 707. The KC-135A was and remains often confused with the 707, which is larger and wider than the tanker; further complicating the issue is many air forces converting retired 707-320 airliners to essentially KC-135 standard.
The KC-135A Stratotanker entered service in June 1957, having first flown the year before. Immediately it showed itself to be a vast improvement over piston-engined tankers in speed and ability to transfer fuel. Because it used the same jet propulsion as the B-47 and B-52, it did not need double fuel systems as the KC-97 did; in a pinch, the KC-135 could even transfer some of its own fuel if necessary. It revolutionized air refuelling technology and nuclear attack strategy, as KC-135s could reach station behind the “fail-safe” line quickly if the B-52s needed to remain longer.
Though SAC had always intended the KC-135 to be exclusively for the refuelling of its bomber force, the Vietnam War was to bring the KC-135 into the tactical role as well. Jet fighters used over Vietnam, namely the F-105 Thunderchief and F-4 Phantom II, had the range to reach North Vietnam from bases in Thailand, but once there would have almost no fuel and could not carry any ordnance worth the trip. By deploying KC-135s to “anchor tracks” over Laos and the Gulf of Tonkin under Operation Young Tiger, SAC tanker crews could refuel the F-105 strike aircraft and their F-4 escorts before they crossed into hostile territory, allowing the fighters to have the fuel necessary for extended operations, and carry heavy ordnance loads. Vietnam proved that the Stratotanker was more than useful in the tactical strike role, and though the tankers remained under the control of SAC until 1991, they were to prove vital again and again worldwide in trouble spots. Without tanker support, missions over both North Vietnam and Iraq would have been near impossible—leading to the famous tanker crew motto: “No one kicks ass without tanker gas.”
By the 1980s, the KC-135A fleet was aging and there was no replacement in sight. The JT3D turbojets used by the A model was very loud, left clouds of brown smoke when its water injection was used, and was not as fuel efficient as later turbofans. This was partially mitigated by converting 161 aircraft to KC-135Es, using TF33 turbofans removed from retired 707s, but this was only a partial solution. The USAF decided to convert most of the fleet to KC-135R standard, though a few high-time “stovepipe” KC-135As remained in service into the early 1990s and saw action during the First Gulf War before being retired.
55-3131 was originally constructed as a KC-135A, but in 1960, it was converted to a JKC-135A (later NKC-135A) testbed aircraft. It was used to test radio wave function at high altitude, as well as the ionosphere, using sensors and cameras; the latter gained her the nickname (and later nose art) of "Aurora Explorer." 55-3131 was later fitted with a dummy fuselage radome to test the feasilbility of the E-3 Sentry proposal, and was also used in testing materials used in the KC-135R program. It was withdrawn from service in 1992, having spent its entire career with the 4950th Test Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and was scrapped in 2010.
Though later 55-3131 was painted white over gray, the same scheme as Military Airlift Command in the 1970s, in the 1960s it was still bare metal. Where this picture was taken is unknown, but 55-3131 shows the various aerials and domes used in its role as a NKC-135.
(Disclaimer: I found this picture among other photos in my dad’s slides. I’m not sure who took them; some of them may be his. If any of these pictures are yours or you know who took them, let me know and I will remove them from Flickr, unless I have permission to let them remain. These photos are historical artifacts, in many cases of aircraft long since gone to the scrapyard, so I feel they deserve to be shared to the public at large—to honor the men and women who flew and maintained them.)
Boeing NKC-135A Stratotanker
In one of the great ironies of aviation history, the KC-135 Stratotanker, the most successful aerial tanker ever built, was never meant to serve more than ten years, let alone the over fifty it has. With jet bombers such as the B-47 and B-52 coming into service, Strategic Air Command’s fleet of KB-29s and KC-97s clearly would not be adequate—an all-jet tanker was needed as well. Lockheed won the USAF competition in 1954 with its L-193 proposal, but it would be some time before the L-193 would be operational.
Needing jet tankers immediately, the USAF turned to Boeing, which already had a four-engined jet transport flying—the Model 367 “Dash 80” private-venture demonstrator. Boeing, since it was already producing both the B-47 and the B-52, as well as the KC-97, had no trouble convincing the USAF that the Dash 80 could be converted to the tanker role, and the USAF duly ordered 250 “interim” KC-135As until the L-193 could come online.
In the end, the L-193 never made it off the drawing board: the KC-135 was easy to fly, easy to operate, and had all the speed and range necessary for its mission. The 250 “interim” aircraft would grow to a final order of over 800 airframes. In the process, the KC-135’s success also ensured that airlines took a closer look at the Dash 80, which resulted in an upscaled version: the very successful 707. The KC-135A was and remains often confused with the 707, which is larger and wider than the tanker; further complicating the issue is many air forces converting retired 707-320 airliners to essentially KC-135 standard.
The KC-135A Stratotanker entered service in June 1957, having first flown the year before. Immediately it showed itself to be a vast improvement over piston-engined tankers in speed and ability to transfer fuel. Because it used the same jet propulsion as the B-47 and B-52, it did not need double fuel systems as the KC-97 did; in a pinch, the KC-135 could even transfer some of its own fuel if necessary. It revolutionized air refuelling technology and nuclear attack strategy, as KC-135s could reach station behind the “fail-safe” line quickly if the B-52s needed to remain longer.
Though SAC had always intended the KC-135 to be exclusively for the refuelling of its bomber force, the Vietnam War was to bring the KC-135 into the tactical role as well. Jet fighters used over Vietnam, namely the F-105 Thunderchief and F-4 Phantom II, had the range to reach North Vietnam from bases in Thailand, but once there would have almost no fuel and could not carry any ordnance worth the trip. By deploying KC-135s to “anchor tracks” over Laos and the Gulf of Tonkin under Operation Young Tiger, SAC tanker crews could refuel the F-105 strike aircraft and their F-4 escorts before they crossed into hostile territory, allowing the fighters to have the fuel necessary for extended operations, and carry heavy ordnance loads. Vietnam proved that the Stratotanker was more than useful in the tactical strike role, and though the tankers remained under the control of SAC until 1991, they were to prove vital again and again worldwide in trouble spots. Without tanker support, missions over both North Vietnam and Iraq would have been near impossible—leading to the famous tanker crew motto: “No one kicks ass without tanker gas.”
By the 1980s, the KC-135A fleet was aging and there was no replacement in sight. The JT3D turbojets used by the A model was very loud, left clouds of brown smoke when its water injection was used, and was not as fuel efficient as later turbofans. This was partially mitigated by converting 161 aircraft to KC-135Es, using TF33 turbofans removed from retired 707s, but this was only a partial solution. The USAF decided to convert most of the fleet to KC-135R standard, though a few high-time “stovepipe” KC-135As remained in service into the early 1990s and saw action during the First Gulf War before being retired.
55-3131 was originally constructed as a KC-135A, but in 1960, it was converted to a JKC-135A (later NKC-135A) testbed aircraft. It was used to test radio wave function at high altitude, as well as the ionosphere, using sensors and cameras; the latter gained her the nickname (and later nose art) of "Aurora Explorer." 55-3131 was later fitted with a dummy fuselage radome to test the feasilbility of the E-3 Sentry proposal, and was also used in testing materials used in the KC-135R program. It was withdrawn from service in 1992, having spent its entire career with the 4950th Test Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and was scrapped in 2010.
Though later 55-3131 was painted white over gray, the same scheme as Military Airlift Command in the 1970s, in the 1960s it was still bare metal. Where this picture was taken is unknown, but 55-3131 shows the various aerials and domes used in its role as a NKC-135.
(Disclaimer: I found this picture among other photos in my dad’s slides. I’m not sure who took them; some of them may be his. If any of these pictures are yours or you know who took them, let me know and I will remove them from Flickr, unless I have permission to let them remain. These photos are historical artifacts, in many cases of aircraft long since gone to the scrapyard, so I feel they deserve to be shared to the public at large—to honor the men and women who flew and maintained them.)