The 16 aerial tankers are flown around the world. Most of the jets and about 200 personnel will be at Wright-Patterson through mid-July, joining nine-C-17 Globemaster III cargo jets with the Air Force Reserve 445th Airlift Wing on the tarmac.
A $3.2 million project at Grissom will add expansion joints in the 12,500-foot-long runway to keep it flat because of temperature swings.
The KC-135, based on the original Boeing 707 commercial airliner, has less automation than newer, fly-by-wire aircraft, which translates into a steeper learning curve, said said Lt. Col. Brian D. Hollis, a pilot and the 72nd Air Refueling Squadron director of operations.
“It’s fun,” he said. “It makes it a lot more interactive to fly.”
The tankers won’t be static at Wright-Patterson, and will be used on 10 to 20 missions a week, Hollis said.
The jets have a 30-foot-long boom, which can extend another 30 feet to refuel planes in mid-air. Pilots pulling up for a fillup are guided by lights underneath the KC-135 while an operator inside the tanker looks out a window and steers the boom to a thirsty aircraft. The tanker, with a typical 4,000-mile range, can carry about 30,000 gallons on a single flight.
“If you’re loaded deep with fuel, you can fly until it’s not fun anymore,” Hollis said.
While the jets are old, Hollis gave a plane-side tour of one built in 1960, the four-engine KC-135R models that the unit flies have replaced sheet metal, wiring, electronics and engines. The same reservists maintain the tankers for years with the fervor of a classic car collector, officials said.
“It is their aircraft,” said Tech. Sgt. Mark R. W. Orders-Woempner, a unit spokesman.
“They (the planes) look like your Dad’s ‘65 Mustang,” Hollis said.
The Air Force has ordered 179 Boeing KC-46 Pegasus aerial tankers to replace the aging KC-135 fleet, but Hollis noted the older planes were scheduled to fly through 2045. The Air Force has 414 of the jets mixed within active-duty, reserve and Air National Guard units.
For the Indiana-based unit, Tuesday marked a homecoming of sorts. The refuelers temporarily relocated to Wright-Patterson a decade ago for a runway project.
Last summer, the Ohio Air National Guard 180th Fighter Wing’s F-16 Fighting Falcon jets thundered out of Wright-Patt while crews reconstructed the unit’s home runway at Toledo Express Airport.
About the Author