First Boeing KC-135R tanker retired after more than 50 years


http://www.seattlepi.com/business/boeing/article/First-Boeing-KC-135R-tanker-retired-after-more-4310083.php?cmpid=gplus

Comments

  1. What does it tell you about the world when an airplane is able to function for 50+ years, my desktop PC was able to function for 8, but an iPod dies after 2?  

    Just imagine, somewhere there is a man who flown in the same plane his father and grandfather flew in during three different wars which occurred decades apart.

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  2. Just old and they finely have a replacement

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  3. Shouldn't that mean the B-52's have to be replaced too? :P

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  4. It was my first time standing next to a real, gen-u-ine F-4G Wild Weasel.  We were waiting for one of our team to finish going over docs to make sure it was safe to start doing our work.  I studied the tail markings.  

    "OK - so 'SP' is where the bird is from and the big numbers are the tail number for the bird... what's with the little number?"

    My supervisor looks up at the tail.  "Oh.  That's the year it was manufactured."

    "Wow," I note with awe.  "These birds are a year older than I am!"

    "I feel old," replied my boss with his forehead in his palm.

    When it came to flying sorties in Sand Land, our Weasels hit their  chalks with better numbers than many other air frames that were decades newer.  Some air frames are built to last (it also helps to have decades of experience and logistics).

    (I also flew from Germany to Albuquerque in a KC-135 once.  It makes you appreciate the creature comforts in commercial aircraft - like sound baffling).

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  5. I worked on those back in 2001 my favorite plane to work on

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  6. C-130's are way worse to fly in lol

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  7. The end of an era. What have they replaced them with now?

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  8. So, what are we using for tankers? C-17's? C-130's?

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