KC-135 at Edwards Air Force Base, 1958

This photo of a KC-135 on the runway at Edwards Air Force Base, California was taken in 1958. The KC-135 is the military variant of the Boeing 707. Its primary role was as an in-flight refueler. The tail number of this plane is 53124.

In 1957 and 1958, NASA was asked by what was then the Civil Aeronautics Administration (later absorbed into the Federal Aviation Administration -- FAA -- in 1958) to help establish new approach procedure guidelines on cloud-ceiling and visibility minimums for Boeing's first jet airliner, the B-707. This KC-135 was used by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards to conduct the tests.

The Boeing Company's model 367-80 was the basic design for the commercial 707 passenger plane as well as the KC-135A Stratotanker. In 1954 the Air Force purchased the first 29 of its future 732-plane fleet. The first aircraft flew in August 1956 and the initial production Stratotanker was delivered to Castle Air Force Base, CA in June 1957. The last KC-135 was delivered to the Air Force in 1965.

Upgraded KC-135s are still in service in the 2000s. The KC-135 has been altered to do other jobs ranging from flying command post missions to reconnaissance. The EC-135C is U.S. Strategic Command's flying command post, always on alert, ready to take to the air and control bombers and missiles if ground control is lost.

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