Old Tankers from the Golden Years

[bigcrow]

Seeing as the Herky Bird thread caused a lot of interest. Here some old skool Tankers, complete with full colur star & bars, SAC sash bands & real engines..

#1

58-0075 KC-135A 92nd Bomb Wing, Fairchild AFB. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#2

62-3546 KC-135A 42nd Bomb Wing, Loring AFB, ME, by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#3

59-1460 KC-135Q 9th SRW, Beale AFB, Ca. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#4

57-1435 KC-135A 92nd Bomb Wing, Fairchild AFB, Washington by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#5

58-0043 KC-135A 133rd ARS, New Hamspshire ANG, Pease AFB. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#6

59-1479 KC-135E 126th ARS, Wisconsin ANG, General Mitchell IAP. Milwauke by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#7

58-0103 KC-135Q 9th SRW, Beale AFB, Ca. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#9

59-1519 KC-135E 126th ARS, Wisconsin ANG, General Mitchell IAP. Milwauke by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#10

57-1480 KC-135E 108th ARS, Illinois Air National Guard, Chicago-O'Hare IAP, Illinois. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#11

59-1469 KC-135A 380th Bomb Wing, Plattsburgh AFB, New York by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#12

59-1479 KC-135E 126th ARS, Wisconsin Air National Guard, General Mitchell IAP. Milwaukee by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#13

62-3572 KC-135A 416th Bomb Wing, Griffiths AFB, New York by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

#14

57-1508 KC-135A 305th Air Refuelling Wing, Grissom AFB. RAF Fairford, Jan 1988. by Stuart Freer - Touchdown Aviation, on Flickr

[DanBeeden]

Lovely shots - no.4 is especially nice; looks like it was taken at Fairford down at the western end?

[awacsfan]

I love 'em - each and every one and if there are more please keep them coming.
Thanks for these fine pictures.

[johnwickenden]

Ahh the memories ! I always like the ANG ones that had the titles on the top of the fuselage

[dragonchaser]

Oh yes!! Now this is what I call a post, an excellent collection of memories

[MR TERRY GREEN]

Lovely pictures, thanks for posting.

[paddyboy]

Hi Stuart

Simply sublime set

No. 5 sums it up, with all that smoke in the background

Thanks for posting

Paddyboy

[Knife 04]

Brilliant set Stuart - thanks for posting. Really good to see these with 'proper' engines

Must have been stood about 20 yards to your right for No 2 (only had a 50mm lens though) - Fairford Open Day - 22nd July 1984

Darren

[Tiger 1]

Absolutely superb set of photos from a time in our hobby that was amazing... so many great memories brought back from your selection

If memory serves me right... wasn't it something like 600 US gallons of water injected in to the J57 engines on take off that produced that wonderful smokey trail.

I'm with paddyboy... photo 5... Brilliant.

Thanks for posting.

[bigcrow]

Lovely shots - no.4 is especially nice; looks like it was taken at Fairford down at the western end?

Yes Dan taken at Fairford down the western end on 16th May 1988

[josh sykes]

An excellent set of shots . Mintage

[apex]

Lovely stuff from a great era. Thanks for posting.

Such a shame that you can easily spend a whole week at Mildenhall these days and not see a visiting 135.

[luxto]

Absolutely superb set of photos from a time in our hobby that was amazing... so many great memories brought back from your selection

If memory serves me right... wasn't it something like 600 US gallons of water injected in to the J57 engines on take off that produced that wonderful smokey trail.

I'm with paddyboy... photo 5... Brilliant.

Thanks for posting.

600 US gallons sounds about right, maybe a little more. I remember from flights that I had on them that the water would run out about 2 minutes after the start of the take off roll. The sound inside was deafening until it all got used up - then it went almost silent, or so it seemed.

A Cell departure of 4, J-57 powered tankers with water injection, was one of the unforgettable sights of the `Cold War`.

Great post Stu - some wonderful memories of those days and before, when KC-135's were shiny natural metal and dayglo.

[3Greens]

Simply fantastic Stuart.
SAC fuselage sash, tail stripe and smoke .. what more could you want on a '135
Got a fair few of these myself
Thanks for posting
3Greens

[bigcrow]

Thanks for the comments guys, they certainly were great days when they were deployed to Fairford & the Hall

[Stratocruiser]

BIG WOW!
I totally agree with the past comments, what a fantastic post.
I would make a stop at Fairford most weekends during the 80's when the TDY 'A' model Strats were rotated. Loved the SAC band and fin tip unit identities.
You've brought back many happy memories so thank you very much

[FlyLow]

Nice shots - thanks for posting

[KeBul]

Lovely set, enjoyed them very much

Thanks for sharing

Kev