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Description
| Notes: C-135A equipped with flying boom for aerial refueling. May be used as a cargo/troop transport (4 CREW, 80 PASSENGERS) . | ||
| Manufacturer: | Boeing | |
| Base model: | C-135 | |
| Designation: | KC-135 | |
| Version: | A | |
| Nickname: | Stratotanker | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1925-1962 | |
| Basic role: | Transport | |
| Modified Mission: | Tanker | |
Specifications
| Length: | 136' 3" | 41.5 m | |
| Height: | 38' 4" | 11.6 m | |
| Wingspan: | 130' 10" | 39.8 m | |
| Empty Weight: | 109,000 lb | 49,433 kg | |
| Gross Weight: | 297,000 lb | 134,693 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 4 | ||
| Powerplant: | Pratt & Whitney J57-P-59W | ||
| Thrust (each): | 13,750 lb | 6,235 kg | |
Performance
| Range: | 4,000 miles | 6,441 km | |
| Cruise Speed: | 552 mph | 888 km/h | 480 kt |
| Max Speed: | 600 mph | 966 km/h | 522 kt |
| Ceiling: | 40,000 ft | 12,191 m | |
Known serial numbers
Examples of this type may be found at
| Museum | City | State |
| Castle Air Museum | Atwater | California |
| Dyess Linear Air Park | Dyess AFB | Texas |
| March Field Air Museum | Riverside | California |
| Scott AFB | Scott AFB | Illinois |
KC-135A on display
Castle Air Museum | March Field Museum |
Recent comments by our visitors
| Jerry Moore McDonough,, GA | Fairly certain that certain versions that required more electrical power, did indeed have 4 generators. All RCs, some ECs and refuelable "Christines" which were used for radio relay and Head Dancer missions. 06/21/2010 @ 14:05 [ref: 26617] |
| Tom , VA | No special Mitts.
I remember using the normal leather work gloves to remove the spent cart. Used rubber gloves for washing the aircraft. Now in the old days we used asbestos gloves for servicing liquid O2. when asbestos was banned, we used new. clean leather work gloves for playing with the O2. The only other gloves I had on the flight line were the Nomex ones, but I woer those in the days when we were allowed to wear flight suits. 06/21/2010 @ 05:04 [ref: 26615] |
| Pete J , CA | Yes, it was a mess. Fairchild had two tanker squadrons and one B 52 squadron. When the klaxon went off, it looked like a brush fire on the flight line(only the Buffs were in the alert facility. I never had to deal with them but I recall that the breeches were really hot after a start. Didn't the crew chiefs have special mitts to handle them? 06/18/2010 @ 20:02 [ref: 26607] |
| Tom , VA | BOY! You brought the memories of the smoke masks we would have to wear! How the whole airplane would disappear. And do not forget about the tape on the bottom of the canister!
UGH! Cleaning the breach! Make sure that blow out pin is free. (Do not tap it!) 06/10/2010 @ 05:32 [ref: 26575] |
| Pete J. San Marcos, CA | I was at Fairchild when they got the first 4 cart starts on the A's. This was before smokeless cartriges. The first time we fired one off we had calm winds and the boom went the hospital with smoke inhalation. With those old cartriges, on an alert the darned flight line flat went IFR. It didn't take long before they got a smokless cart. Unfortuantly, they weren't fumeless and stunk like hell. I hated having to do cart starts in an A, I can imagine what it must have been like in a Buff! 05/26/2010 @ 21:34 [ref: 26509] |
| Tom , VA | Sorry Dan, there were more than just two or three.
And the Sgt that I had fooled was assigned to the Squadron that took care of the "N" type 135. Did you know that there were also KC-135-Q’s, or how about the EC-135-L, or the EC-135-M? Some of the strange type of 135 that I had my dirty fingers on, was the KC-135-D's and the RT-135-A. Have you ever heard of a RC-135-W? I had worked on all of those listed plus a few others. 05/04/2010 @ 09:00 [ref: 26127] |
| Dan , CA | You're talking about the NC or NKC-135 variant, right? There were only ever two or three of those in the whole world, as I understand. Surely people would recognize those particular tail numbers. 05/03/2010 @ 09:29 [ref: 26124] |
| Tom , VA | Dan:
Not all 135's are the same. Several variations DID have one on #4! The location where this incident took place is known for having one of those strange variations of the 135. It had the Letter "N" in its designation. 04/30/2010 @ 08:50 [ref: 26110] |
| Tom , VA | Dan:
Not all 135's are the same. Several variations DID have one on #4! The location where this incident took place is known for having one of those strange variations of the 135. It had the Letter "N" in its designation. 04/30/2010 @ 08:36 [ref: 26109] |
| Tom , VA | Dan;
The 135's that they had on that island at the time DID have one on #4. These 135's had the letter "N" in their designation. 04/30/2010 @ 08:29 [ref: 26108] |
Recent photos uploaded by our visitors
