50th Anniversary of KC-135’s First Flight

 

On August 31, 1956, KC-135A 55-3118 took off from Renton, WA, with R. L. ‘Dix’ Loesch and A. M. ‘Tex’ Johnson in control, marking the first flight of the KC-135 Stratotanker.  On August 28, 1997, I visited Wisconsin Air National Guard 128th ARW based at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, WI.  The 128th ARW was the first unit to convert to the KC-135R, the model equipped with F108 engines (military CFM56).  Here are some of the photos taken during this personal visit.

Many thanks to (then) Lt. Col. Bart and all the friends of the 128th ARW.  Also, Lt. Col. Metzgar of the Wisconsin ANG 115th FW deserves the credit for helping arrange the visit.

 

 

Luckily, no one started the engine when the photo was taken!         

 

USAF had just initiated the PACER CRAG (Communication, Radar, And GPS) program to upgrade KC-135’s avionics before my visit.  This aircraft had not been modified yet.         

 

This was the navigator’s station. On PACER CRAG aircraft, the navigator would be eliminated.        

 

Inside the cabin. The cargo door on the left was in the open position.        

 

The boom operator lies prone on a couch in the compartment. On the KC-10, the operator sits.        

 

The flying boom is controlled manually. The KC-10, in contrast, has a fly-by-wire boom.        

 

With the fairing removed, the glass shielding the boom operator’s compartment is visible and so is the mirror below it.        

 

The boom operator “flies” the boom by controling the two black “ruddervators”.        

 

Close-up study of the nozzle.        

 

Looking from above.        

 

The crew have to climb the ladder in order to enter the cockpit.        

 

The R has two quick-start APUs installed.      

Time really flies!  These photos are almost ten years old!  But I can still remember that, a few days after my visit, on the 41st anniversary of the first flight, Princess Diana was killed in the famous accident.  The next morning, I boarded a bus to Chicago for a flight to Cleveland, thus ending my seven-year stay in Madison, WI.