Aerofax - Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.pdf - Aerofax - pilot1216

Stratotanker

More than just a Tanker

Robert S Hopkins III

e-ng KC·135

Boeing KC·135

Stratotanker

More than just a Tanker

Robert S Hopkins, III

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

ISBN 1 85780 069 9

Contents

Published by Midland Publishing Limited

24 The Hollow, Earl Shilton

L.eicester, LE9 7NA, England

Tel: 01455847815 Fax: 01455 841 805

E-mail: midlandbooks@compuserve.com

Design concept and layout

Stephen Thompson Associates

Preface

Foreword

Author's Notes

Using the Book

Glossary

Edited by Ken Ellis

Worldwide distribution (except North America):

Midland Counties Publications (Aerophile) Limited

Unit 3, Maizefield, Hinckley Fields

Hinckley, Leics., LE10 1YF, Great Britain

Telephone: 01455233747 Fax: 01455233737

E-mail: midlandbooks@compuserve.com

Printed in England by

Clearpoint Colourprint Limited

Daybrook, Nottingham, NG5 6HD

Chapters

1 Determinant of Strategy

2 Birth of Aerial Refueling

3 Developmental History

4 Airframe, Powerplant and

Systems

5 Tankers

6 Les Ravitailleurs

7 Transports

8 Test-beds

9 Airborne Command Posts

10 Reconnaissance Platforms

Aerofax is an imprint of

Midland Publishing Limited

North American trade distribution:

Specialty Press Publishers & Wholesalers Inc.

11481 Kost Dam Road, North Branch, MN 55056

Tel: 6125833239 Fax: 612 583 2023

Toll free telephone: 8008954585

be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, trans-

mitted in any form or by any means, electronic,

mechanical or photo-copied, recorded or otherwise,

without the written permission of the publishers.

113

133

Appendices

A KC-135s in Color

B Mission-Design-Series List

C Attrition

D Retirements

E Units

F Records and Special

Achievements

G Notes on Sources

H End Notes

161

177

187

193

196

202

207

209

Index

221

Title page: Under the command of Major Burl

Davenport, 99th AREFS, 4050th AREFW KC-135A

56-3630 set a speed record from New York to

London on 27th June 1958, as 'Top Sail-Alpha'

- see Appendix F. Still in 99th AREFS markings,

56-3630 refuels North American F-100D

56-3435. USAF via Joe Bruch collection

Left: This book is dedicated to the author's

father, Lieutenant Colonel Robert S Hopkins,

USAF (Retired).

Preface

As a former Commander in Chief of Strategic

Air Command, I appreciate a good book about

a warplane that has been vital to SAC's mission

for over 30 years. On 28th June 1957, SAC took

delivery of its first KC-135 all-jet tanker. On 12th

January 1965, the last KC-135 was delivered,

giving SAC a total of 641, the largest tanker fleet

in the world.

This book is aboutthat warplane. The Boeing

KC-135 and its variants have been workhorses

of the jet age. Over the years our KC-135

tankers have amassed in excess of 4.5 million

hours of flying time. They undertook continu-

ous support of operations in Vietnam from June

1964 to August 1973, flying 195,000 sorties,

providing over 800,000 aerial refuelings, and

transferring a total of nine billion pounds of fuel.

As many as 172 KC-135s were committed to

operations in Southeast Asia .

The KC-135 is still going strong. With ongo-

ing modernization programs such as re-engin-

ing with quiet, fuel efficient, and powerful

engines, airframe reskinning, and new fuel

management systems, the KC-135 will be flying

well into the 21 st century.

This book is also about the concept of aerial

refueling - the mating and transfer of fuel

between two aircraft, in flight, and at all alti-

tudes. The concept had a 'daredevil' beginning

in 1921, when an American, with a five gallon

can of aviation gasoline strapped to his back,

climbed from the wing of one biplane to the

wing of another and poured the gasoline into

the fuel tank. But it was the KC-135 with its

speed, endurance, and high volume fuel trans-

fer methods which gave our bomber, fighter,

reconnaissance, and airlift aircraft their truly

global capabilities.

Recently, for example, tankers were indis-

pensable in the support of US air strikes against

Libya. Strike aircraft flying from England were

denied overflight rights by France, Spain, and

Portugal. This forced a 2,800 nautical mile

(5, 188km) circuitous route south from England

along the European Atlantic coast and through

the Strait of Gibraltar to the Libyan coast. Strike

aircraft received eight refuelings - four pre-strike

and four post-strike. The composite force of 19

McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extenders and ten

KC-135s made this successful mission possible.

Finally, this book is about those unsung

heroes, the men (and now the women) who

crew SAC's tanker force and contribute daily to

the success of SAC's mission - deterrence.

One of my predecessors as CINCSAC, General

Curtis LeMay, said it best: 'Tanker guys have

not received the great credit they deserve; they

are always there when you need them.'

During the war in Southeast Asia, KC-135

crews accomplished many remarkable feats of

airmanship. For example, on 3rd May 1967, two

Republic F-105 Thunderchiefs, returning from

a mission over North Vietnam and flying protec-

tive cover for a downed airman found them-

selves without enough fuel to land in friendly

territory. With stormy weather in the refueling

area and an unusual number of airborne emer-

gencies preventing them from reaching stand-

by tankers, they radioed for any tanker

assistance they could get. Major Alvin L Lewis

and his KC-135 crew, monitoring the situation

while in another refueling area, managed to

keep track of the F-1 05s and arrived just as one

fighter pilot was aboutto eject. To effect a hook-

up, Major Lewis had to maneuver the KC-135

into a dive while turning in front ofthe F-1 05 just

as it was about to flame out for the lack of fuel.

His actions saved two pilots and their airplanes.

Bob Hopkins provides valuable insight into

the history of aerial refueling, the KC-135, and

the people who made it so effective. The book

also provides an in-depth look at a number of

tanker variants, such as the R9-135 reconnais-

sance versions and the EC-135 airborne com-

mand and control airplanes, like the famous

'Looking Glass' that has maintained continu-

ous airborne alert in protection of the United

States since 1961 .

I've flown tankers; I know and understand

their mission and I'm proud to have been the

Commander of the warplanes and warriors of

our KC/EC/RC and C-135 fleet.

General John T Chain, Jr

former Commander-in-Chief

Strategic Air Command

Offutt AFB, Nebraska

.. I

CINCSAC General John T 'Jack' Chain takes his

turn as AEAO on board a 'Looking Glass' sortie

in 2nd ACCS EC·135C 63·8054. Chain also

served as the AEAO on the last continuous

'Looking Glass' mission on 24th July 1990.

The box between the consoles ordinarily

contains the requisite codes to launch or

execute the SlOP, the US nuclear war plan.

Joe Bruch collection (Joe can be seen at the rear of

the picture, extreme left.)

. i I ...

[

I ~

Foreword

On the morning of 17th December 1903, at Kitty

Hawk, North Carolina, Orville Wright conduct-

ed the first pilot-controlled take-off, flight and

landing of a heavier-than-air flying machine.

That historic flight, today's high performance

aircraft, and, yes, the super flight vehicles of the

future, was and will continue to be the product

of man's infinite desires and technical achieve-

ments.

In May 1941, the whine of English engineer

Sir Frank Whittle's gas turbine engine served as

the coup de grace for internal combustion

engines in high performance aircraft. Shortly

thereafter, under a Top Secret government

contract, Bell Aircraft Corporation built and

flight tested the first jet propelled aircraft in the

US. The XP-59 Airacomet was a twin-jet,

straight wing, single-seat fighter operational to

43,000ft (3,1 06m) altitude. The handling char-

acteristics of the aircraft were satisfactory and

the high altitude performance was phenome-

nal, introducing the industry to heretofore

unknown high altitude and high speed prob-

lems. Due to the high operating temperatures

and the absence of heat resistant materials, for

example, the total engine life expectancy was a

mere five hours.

The National Advisory Council for Aeronau-

tics (NACA, later NASA) possessed captured

German high speed wind tunnel data which

showed that a 35 0 swept wing provided superi-

or high speed performance but had unaccept-

able low speed stall characteristics. Bell

negotiated a contract with NACA to modify a

conventional fighter, a P-63 Kingcobra, into the

35 0 swept wing configuration Model L-39 and

conduct low speed and stall investigation. A

series of flight tests utilizing various wing lead-

ing edge slat configurations and positions pro-

duced a configuration which solved the low

speed problem, allowing the industry to utilize

the benefits ofthe 35 0 swept wing.

With the increasing jet fighter and B-47 Stra-

tojet inventory, the military identified a need for

in-flight refueling. Early in-flight refueling uti-

lized a 'probe and drogue' system, requiring

the fighter to overtake the drogue receptacle

with the refueling probe of the fighter, a difficult

procedure, particularly in rough air. Recogniz-

ing this increasing requirement for stable and

reliable in-flight refueling, Boeing designed,

built, and perfected a 'flying boom' refueling

system on the tail section of a KC-97

Stratofreighter. Refueling with the boom sys-

tem proved superior to the drogue system and

was much preferred by receiver pilots.

The growing number of fighters and B-47

bombers plus the rapidly approaching arrival of

the eight-engine high altitude B-52 emphasized

the requirement for tanker aircraft with jet-com-

patible speed and high altitude performance,

as the low speed and low altitude refueling dic-

tated by the KC-97 were both extremely incon-

venient and costly.

The B-47 and B-52 prototype flight experi-

ence and performance numbers (plus the

British decision to proceed with the DH Comet

jet transport) convinced Boeing management

that the future lay with military and commercial

jet aircraft. In mid April 1952, the Board of Direc-

tors allocated $16 million to develop, construct,

test, and demonstrate a prototype Boeing

Model 707 jet transport, draWing number 367-

80. The 'Dash 80's' initial flight on 15th July

1954, demonstrated satisfactory flight charac-

teristics and equipment operation. Previous

technical experience with the design and

development of the B-47 and B-52 was a signifi-

cant factor in the design and success of the

'Dash 80'.

The test program involving stability and con-

trol, performance, flutter and structural testing

proceeded on schedule, and flight demonstra-

tions to military and airline officials were fre-

quent. On 16th October 1955, with Mr William

Allen, Boeing President, and prominent indus-

try officials aboard, we departed Seattle in the

'Dash 80' and landed at Andrews AFB, Mary-

land, three hours, 48 minutes later for an aver-

age speed of 595mph (957km/h). Following a

briefing of the assembled dignitaries and press

we returned to Seattle in four hours, eight min-

utes. The record speed, absence of cabin noise

and vibration plus passenger comfort demon-

strated the utility of the jet transport.

Numerous 'Dash 80' simulated refueling

flights with B-47s and B-52s at mission altitude

proved the KC-135 concept and mission capa-

bility. The KC-135 aircraft is a prime example of

the advancing technical state of the art of air-

craft propulsion units,. lightweight materials,

structural design and aerodynamic improve-

ment. It is also an example of the technical fore-

sight and financial commitment by Corporate

America, in this case the Boeing Company. The

'Dash 80' prototype jet tanker and commercial

transport provided the military with no-cost

flight test performance data, flight crew familiar-

ization and in-flight refueling simulation and

mission validation at operational altitudes.

The co-ordinated efforts of the United States

government, technical consultants, industry

manufacturing and testing organizations, insti-

tutions of higher learning and the respective

military organizations have produced the most

advanced aircraft in speed, range, altitude,

mission capability, and reliability, in the 51

years of powered flight since that historical day

at Kitty Hawk.

AM 'Tex' Johnston

Seattle, Washington

former ChiefTest Pilot, Boeing

Plenty of reasons to be happy. Boeing

President Bill Allen (left) and test pilots 'Tex'

Johnston (center) and 'Dix' Loesch (right) mug

for the camera after the successful first flight

of KC·135A 55-3118 on 31st August 1956.

Johnston earned Allen's wrath a year earlier

when, on 7th August 1955, he barrel-rolled the

'Dash 80' over Seattle's Lake Washington.

Boeing P-17340, courtesy of Marilyn Phipps

Aerofax - Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.pdf

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