Welcome to www.kc135.org

I know some of you aviation buffs out there would like to see the first Stratotanker ever used by the US air force in person. So I listed some of the locations around the country where you can spot the KC-135 in all its glory.

If you’re on the west coast, you should definitely check out the Castle Air Museum located in Atwater, California. It features a variety of airplanes from KC-135’s of course to the famous Convair RB-36H’s that were used in WW2. It also features a pristine CF-100 Canuck Mk V, the first straight-winged aircraft to break the sound barrier.

Midwesterners can always visit the Offutt Air Force base in near Omaha. This is the base where the infamous B-29’s that dropped the atom bomb on Nagasaki where built. This is also where a lot of aircrafts that were used in the second world war, such as the B-29 Superfortresses and B-26 Marauders where assembled.

If you live near Texas, you can spot the KC-135 at the Dyess Air Force Base in Abylene, Taylor County. For those of you residing on the east coast, you will soon be able to catch a glimpse of the KC-135 at the Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Maryland.

So if you like aircrafts and would like to see the mythical KC-135 up close and personal, make sure you drop by one of these locations and be prepared to be amazed by this awesome piece of machinery.

The KC 135 was once the be-all and end-all plane for refueling other planes. These planes would travel up into the sky to meet another plane that was running low on fuel. While both planes remained in the air, the KC 135 would inject fuel into the other plane. This was especially useful during times of war or when over unfriendly territory because it allowed planes to remain in the air and not run out of fuel. However, because most of these planes are become decrepit and in very bad condition, they are being taken out of use and more and more models are starting to be retired. So, how will planes refuel? What will replace the KC 135?

At first, the job of building planes that could replace the KC 135 was awarded to Boeing, a major airplane manufacturer. However, scandal broke out when it was found that an employee at the Pentagon also had inside dealings with Boeing, making the awarding to Boeing unfair. This, and the fact that the lease had always been highly criticized, led to the contract betweeing Boeing and the American government being cancelled in early 2006.

The bid was then opened up to both Boeing and Northrop Grumman, who would team up with EADS, a European company, to make the planes. When Northrop Grumman was awarded during this second round, there was another huge outcry as people protested that this would take away from American jobs because these plans would be outsourced to Britain. In the end, it was decided that the planes Boeing had presented in their attempt to win the bid were the most cost effective option while the Northrop Grumman planes still weren’t up to par with military requirements. This led to a third round.

The third round to win the bid was open to only Boeing and Northrop Grumman. This round was held in July 2008 and would only focus on the problems that both Boeing and Northrop Grumman had in their previous models. However, because it was found that this part of the competition could not be completed before the end of the year, and because it was also an election year, it was decided that the bidding should be cancelled and reopened only under a new Presidential administration.

The fourth and final round began in September 2009. It was stated before either company presented their models that the plane that fell one percent or lower than the competition’s plane would win the bid. However, at the end of the year, Northrop Grumman threatened that they might withdraw from the competition because they felt as though it lay unfairly in Boeing’s favor. Northrop Grumman has yet to officially withdraw from the competition and whether or not they will is unknown.

So, what will replace the KC 135? Who knows?

Many people will never get a chance to see a KC135 Plane because they are so old that they must be used for their job or simply stored for later use until their date is up and they must be sent to the great airplane graveyard. Unless you have access to one of these graveyards, you will most likely not be able to see these magnificent planes within your lifetime. The best thing to do is see representations of the planes. There are certainly many airplane museums within the United States that may have a Stratotanker such as the KC135 Tanker Plane but your best bet is to just study photos of them online and maybe find a few videos of them online as well. You can always hear about how well they work and how much is put into them every year and how useful they are to the US Air Force. If you really want to see one first hand, then you may even be able to fly one if you join the Air Force.

The Air Force is probably going to be using the newest models of the KC135 until the 40’s of this millennia. So if you really need to see one within the next 30 years, you may be able to depending on where you live and what you decide to do with your life. Many of these KC135 planes are going to be used to fuel thousands of planes in flight with their special hoses that must connect to the plane. Only highly trained plane pilots would be allowed to do this type of fueling because any accident can become an even worse accident when something goes wrong. These planes are specialized to allow for a smooth refueling while the planes are operational in flight!

The KC135 refueling plane makes it possible for other aircraft to refuel while still in the air. This is not a new technology or concept but is being used more often than not in experimental flights as well as many futuristic advances. These planes have a solid design and make it possible to keep pilots in the air longer, especially during war time and training. To ensure that forces could continuously stay in the air long enough to make a difference, the KC135 does its job of refueling and keeping planes in the air.

Some of the more advanced experimental aircraft must be tested continuously in air to make sure that the design is well put together and can withstand long periods of use without fail. By using planes such as the KC135 for these types of maneuvers, the military can ensure that their investment of millions of dollars is worth the money. Every one of the KC135 planes themselves cost an average of 44 million to build and have been in use for quite some time now. These planes are large enough to carry enough fuel for many different refuels of different aircrafts. Tanker planes such as these were not only used for refueling and have brought many advances with them with research projects and other experimental flights.

NASA as well as many other programs have used the KC135 for different reasons. Many of the planes are well over 40 years old now and are beginning to cost more and more to maintain. The E and R KC135 models are expected to keep working until 2040 having over 38000 hours of flight under them. They will also be reaching 80 years of usage by then and be one of the only plane designs to undergo only minor upgrades for such a long time with the extent of the upgrades being control panel upgrades!

The KC-135 Stratotanker is an aircraft that is used by the United States. The purpose of the KC-135 is to allow for refueling in the air. While you may think that an aircraft that provides this advanced of an ability probably has not been around for very long, that actually isn’t true in terms of the KC-135. In fact, the United States has been using this type of aircraft all the way since back in 1957 (the aircraft’s very first flight in a non-service situation was even further back, occurring on the 31st of August in 1956).

In addition to this aircraft being used by the United States Air Force, there are several other Air Forces who take advantage of the capabilities that this aircraft offers. Currently, the other Air Forces that also use the KC-135 are the Turkish Air Force, French Air Force and the Republic of Singapore Air Force.

Since they were first introduced back in 1957, there have been eight hundred and three of these airplanes built. When you take into account that each one of these aircraft costs just under forty million dollars to build, that is a significant amount of spending on this aircraft!

I have always enjoyed learning about different kinds of aircraft, and although the KC-135 isn’t my favorite aircraft, I do think that it is a very well built machine. This machine has obviously seen a lot of activity over the years, and for that reason you have to give it and its creators credit for successfully filling a quite important need.