Boeing | |||||
KC-97 Stratofreighter
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Photo: Robert Deering 10/18/2012 National Museum of the USAF Wright-Patterson AFB (FFO) Dayton, Ohio |
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The Boeing
KC-97 Stratofreighter is
a United States strategic tanker
aircraft based
on the Boeing C-97
Stratofreighter.
It was succeeded by the Boeing
KC-135 Stratotanker.
The KC-97 Stratofreighter was an aerial
refueling tanker
variant of the C-97 Stratofreighter (which
was itself based on the Boeing
B-29 Superfortress),
greatly modified with all the necessary
tanks, plumbing, and a flying
boom.
The cavernous upper deck was capable of
accommodating oversize cargo accessed
through a very large right-side door. In
addition, transferable jet fuel was
contained in tanks on the lower deck (G-L
models). Both decks were heated and
pressurized for high altitude operations. The USAF began
operating the KC-97 in 1950. It purchased a
total of 811 KC-97s from Boeing, as opposed
to only 74 of the C-97 cargo version. The
KC-97 carried aviation gasoline for its
own piston engines but it carried jet
fuel for its refueling mission, this
required an independent system for each type
of fuel. However, it was able to offload its
aviation gas to a receiver in an emergency
in a procedure known as a "SAVE".
These tankers were vitally important to the
world-wide Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic
operations. An example was the support of
Arctic reconnaissance flights from Thule Air
Base.
While it was an effective tanker, the KC-97's
slow speed and low operational altitude
complicated refueling operations with jet
aircraft. B-52s typically lowered their
flaps and rear landing gear to slow the
aircraft enough to refuel from the KC-97. In
addition, a typical B-52 refueling
engagement profile would involve a descent
that allowed the aircraft pair to maintain a
higher airspeed (220–240 knots). In the
early 1960s, the Tactical Air
Command added General Electric J47 two twin-
jet pods from retired KB-50 aerial tankers
to produce the KC-97L. These jet pods
increased the speed of the KC-97 (for short
periods of time) and made it more compatible
with jet fighter planes like the F-84,
F-100, and F-101.
In 1956, the Strategic Air Command began
phasing out its KC-97s in favor of
the KC-135 Stratotanker. KC-97s continued
flying with Tactical Air Command, the Air
Force Reserve, and the Air National Guard.
The rest of the KC-97s were retired
completely in 1978, when the Texas Air
National Guard and the Utah Air National
Guard exchanged their KC-97Ls for the C-130
Hercules and the KC-135 Stratotanker,
respectively.
One KC-97 airframe (AF Ser. No. 52-0828) was
adapted into the Aero Spacelines Super
Guppy, a transport plane designed
specifically to support the Apollo
Program by carrying Saturn IB and Saturn
V upper stages across the country
(California to Florida). The aircraft
carried the Saturn S-IVB stage, which served
as the second stage of the Saturn IB, the
third stage of the Saturn V, and the fourth
stage for the never-built Nova rocket.
This modified KC-97, constructed in 1953,
was eventually purchased by NASA in 1997. It
is still in service supporting NASA, other
Federal agencies, and Federal contractors.
It is one of two KC-97s left still in
flyable condition, the other being former
KC-97G 52-2718, "Angel of Deliverance",
currently flown by Berlin Airlift Historical
Foundation as YC-97A 45-59595. |
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