Picture of the Day: Pigs on Parade

You may want to check your sources on how much fuel can be pumped from a KC-135. 200K is more than the aircraft weighs WITH fuel....

200k lbs of fuel is a lot (2 1/2 fully loaded 18 wheelers). but interesting question, however. and be-autiful picture. man, i should've been a pilot!

I have no idea how many lbs that thing can hold, just got the info off of the AF website.

As a former E2-C crewman I know a handsome aircraft when I see it. Form indeed follows function.

I agree with Charlotte. Them is "Some Pigs."

Rugged beauty, spiritual descendant of another handsome aircraft, the AD-1.

dw

I've never flown a "toad" but I've refueled many times behind them. Surely there's somebody out there with firsthand info on their max offload. What I seem to remember is that their idea of a "heavy-weight" refueling was 40K#. Even adding 50% to that figure for the capabilities of the "R" doesn't come close to 200K#. Subtracting their max gross weight from their "dry" weight can get you a number like 200K# but that may not be correct because a lot of "heavy" aircraft simply can not take off at max gross.
IMHO They're the single most important force-multiplier in the United States military. Their single greatest limitation is that they can't buddy refuel. Their second is they have to configure for one refueling system or the other before flight. Many times they're used to refuel the KC-10's because they'll leave the "10" "on station" so it can refuel with either configuration which is more useful in a coalition force.
Tom
former SAC bomber "puke"

Everytime I see the A-10 I sadden lamenting the fact my chronic sinusitis prevented me from leaving the small arms armory for a jet once I finished my degree.

Thankfully, I spent my childhood watching my dad drive Phantoms in AK, so I have those memories.

I've taken many a pound of gas from the back of a KC-135, so I hope this clears it up.

"Structurally, the KC-135 is similar but not identical to the Boeing 707 commercial airliner. It is a swept-wing, long range, high altitude, high speed jet transport. The KC-135 can haul either 83,000 pounds of cargo, airlift up to 80 passengers or carry 202,800 pounds of JP-4 jet fuel, most of which is transferable for global refueling missions."

The idea is for the receiver (in my case a C-141 or C-17) to requests a hard amount of fuel based on their mission. The KC-135 crew then configures their jet to offload that much gas. Both aircrews fuel plan and load plan to accomplish their mission. No one just fills 'er up because it costs gas to carry gas. So technically a 135 could offload almost 200,000 lbs if he were completely empty of cargo and orbiting almost directly above the departure airfield and returning to the original departure point. The miles he has to fly to meet the receiver are lbs of fuel he can't pass along. If one tanker isn't enough, TACC (Tanker Airlift Control Center) may task a KC-10 (more fuel) or plan for a double or even triple air refueling. Mission priority will drive those decisions.

Your right, you dont just off load fuel. The KC-10 carries a hell of a lot more fuel than a 135. And I hear the new KC-30 will carry even more. It will either be a Boeing 767 or god forbid a Airbus 320? .

Thanks for publishing my photo. When I took the photo I saw 4 highly trained 355th fighter squadron pilots poised to "ATTACK."
Rob Wieland, MSgt, USAF

I am a current KC-135 Boom Operator so hopefully I can help clear up some of the confusion. The 10 fuel tanks in the KC-135 can hold a maximum of 209,543lbs of (usable) fuel. However the maximum takeoff weight is 322,500lbs and a standard operating weight is ~124,000lbs which leaves a MAX of ~198,000lbs for fuel (the jets have gotten heavier with time...new equipment, ect.). My personal records indicate that the most fuel we have ever taken off with is 187,400lbs for a gross weight of about 312,000lbs. Also the most fuel that I have ever offloaded in one flight is 117,200lbs which is almost unheard of. Any day you offload more than 100,000lbs is a REALLY big day (I have only done it 4 times). Purely hypothetically speaking you could take off with 195,00lbs of fuel, start offloading immediately after level off into a heavy receiver and land right afterwards with 15,000lbs in the tanks and offload 150,000lbs but that would be pushing it. The KC-10 on the other hand can easily offload 250,000lbs; it has a max fuel load of over 350,000lbs.

Thats actually not over the destin coastline at all. That's the north shore sexy lingeriewholesale lingerie of choctawhatchee bay. You can tell by the sparsely populated coastline and the fact that they didnt land on top of an Escalade or H3

Thats actually not over the destin coastline at all. That's the north shore sexy lingeriewholesale lingerie of choctawhatchee bay. You can tell by the sparsely populated coastline and the fact that they didnt land on top of an Escalade or H3

Thank you very much for sharing