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Post by Tony Madge - HJG on May 20, 2020 20:06:08 GMT
Nice job Erik
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on May 21, 2020 2:03:15 GMT
Thanks Tony! I'm branching out into yet another new aircraft type in the Boeing C-135 family, and the first one up is one that's pretty familiar to me! For a few weeks in 2018, 61-0275 of the Utah ANG's 151st Air Refueling Wing wore these special "Mountain West Militia" decals on the tail. Up by the nose is another decal for the Utah Grizzlies hockey team, as well as a tail band that differs from the rest of the unit's aircraft. The tail band remains as of 2020, but the rest of the decals have since been removed.
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Post by dl1011 on May 21, 2020 2:23:44 GMT
Nice job Erik Awesome work!
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on May 21, 2020 19:28:01 GMT
Glad you like it! Throughout the 1980s and early '90s, the chin antenna on the RC-135U proved to be a natural place for shark mouth artwork, and the two aircraft frequently received them when they were on deployment to RAF Mildenhall. They would then mysteriously disappear when it was time to go home to SAC Headquarters in Nebraska where the higher-ups might see In 2018, the markings reappeared on the U-boats (as they've been nicknamed by crews), and as of today, are still present on them. Here's 64-14849 circa 2018:
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Post by aerofoto - HJG Admin on May 22, 2020 3:03:54 GMT
Some more Official portraits. This time Erik's Erik's latest B721 .... and his first KC-135R and RC-135U .... OMNI AIR EXPRESS B727-90C N270AX (1997)USAF Utah ANG ("Mountain West Militia" livery) KC-135R 61-0275 (2018)USAF Utah ANG (shark mouth livery) KC-135R 64-14849 (2018)"THANKS" for these Erik Mark C AKL/NZ
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on May 22, 2020 21:47:51 GMT
Next -135 up is this WC-135B 61-2673 of the 41st Rescue & Weather Reconnaissance Wing at McClellan AFB, California circa 1986:
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Post by darrenvox on May 23, 2020 1:05:36 GMT
wow nice..looks like its recently been cheopped up
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on May 23, 2020 7:15:20 GMT
Thanks! Yeah, nothing lasts forever, though it's been sitting in pieces for well over 10 years now. Anyway, here's one with some personal significance; my dad was in the Nebraska ANG for quite a while, and while he wasn't flight crew, most times when we'd go visit him at the base he'd find a way for someone to show me around the hangar or a plane parked on the ramp, which definitely made an impression on my young self! 59-1495 was the first KC-135 assigned to the unit when it transitioned to tankers from the RF-4C in 1993, and for a few years it wore this "City of Lincoln" artwork on the nose. I remember seeing it in person once or twice, but the only picture I found was from the RIAT 1996, so this is how it appeared then:
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Post by darrenvox on May 23, 2020 8:50:16 GMT
oh wow!
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Post by dl1011 on May 24, 2020 2:44:41 GMT
Wow sweet!
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Post by jetblue3000 on May 24, 2020 3:19:00 GMT
Real sweet work!
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on May 24, 2020 22:33:19 GMT
Thanks everyone! Here's another more historically-significant airframe; EC-135C 63-8049 circa September 1990. On July 24 of that year, 8049 operated the last continuous Looking Glass alert mission, where it served as a command post should nuclear war break out and destroy SAC headquarters and other important military command centers. The EC-135s still maintained ground alert until 1998, when the command post mission was taken over by US Navy E-6Bs. 8049 was retired and donated to the Strategic Air Command Museum at Offutt AFB in January 1992, and was stored at the museum's new location in rural Nebraska in 1998. Since 2015, it's been undergoing restoration and will eventually be displayed indoors there once it's complete. More info can be found here: sacmuseum.org/what-to-see/restoration/
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Post by aerofoto - HJG Admin on May 25, 2020 4:35:55 GMT
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Post by darrenvox on May 25, 2020 6:35:19 GMT
wow well done...next q is what does the sharks tooth thing do?
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on May 25, 2020 18:36:29 GMT
what does the sharks tooth thing do? All of those sensors (fuselage chin, wingtips, and tailcone) are used to gather electronic signals from various emitters (such as enemy radars, listening posts, etc.). With that information, combat targets can be identified and other aircraft can be directed to them. Memorial Day (for our US-based members) seemed like a good occasion to preview this one; in the summer of 2019, 58-0100 of the 100th ARW wore these special markings to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion (hidden behind the wing is the first part of the buzz code). The 100th is also one of the few (possibly only) units officially allowed to display the legacy markings of its distant predecessor, the 100th Bombardment Group, which used the "square-D" markings throughout World War II.
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