The KC-135 has a twisted past. In 1954, the Strategic Air Command held a competition to replace the KC-97 tanker, which had been deemed unsuitable for refueling jets. A year later, Lockheed’s proposal to modify its L-193 as a refueling tanker was declared the winner.

But Boeing’s KC-135, an adaptation of Boeing’s 367-80 (commonly known as the “Dash-80”) into an aerial tanker, was already flying and could be delivered two years earlier than Lockheed’s proposal. Secretary of the Air Force, Harold Talbott, ordered the purchase of 250 KC-135s until Lockheed could build the adapted L-193s.

Eventually, the Air Force cancelled its order rather than support two tanker designs. Boeing has since dominated the U.S. airline industry and based its 707 model on the 367-80. The Air Force ended up with a fleet of 732 KC-135s, receiving its first tanker in 1957 and its last in 1965.

Although the KC-135 was originally designed to fuel strategic bombers during the Cold War, it ended up refueling jets during the Vietnam War.

Replacing the aging KC-135 has been a convoluted tale as well. The Air Force requested proposals in January 2007 and a year later selected the proposal by Northrup Grumman, partnered with the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, to adapt the Airbus A330 for refueling capability.

Boeing protested the selection and the U.S. Government Accountability Office agreed. The bidding process reopened in July 2008 but was closed again that September. A year later, the Air Force took steps to open the bidding process again, but by this time, Northrup Grumman had decided not to submit a bid. EADS, with the support of Arizona Senator John McCain, remains in the running.

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.

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?

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!

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!

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.