One of the most successful tankers was the Boeing KC-135, whose maiden flight took place in 1956.
The Boeing company created a highly successful Boeing -367-80 concept that would soon become an aviation icon under the name Boeing -707.
The military version of the Dash-80, which was closest to the original concept, was initially intended as a transport aircraft, but at the request of the military, which urgently needed a replacement for the already obsolete KS-97, the company quickly converted the aircraft into a fuel tank modification. That same year, a preliminary order was placed for a series of 29 KS-135As, which were delivered to the Air Force the following year in 1957.
Orders were soon increased considerably and a total of more than 600 KS-135s were built. The first modifications were equipped with Pratt & Whitney J57-P-59W engines with a thrust of 44 kN each. In the early 1980s, the aircraft was modernised, equipped with the latest avionics and fitted with additional Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-102 engines, mainly from decommissioned civilian Boeing 707 aircraft. This made it possible to reduce their own fuel costs and carry 20 per cent more fuel for refuelling other aircraft. The next modernisation of these aircraft took place in the 1990s, by which time they had been in service for almost 40 years. They were equipped with CFM56 (F108) engines from General Electric. The power of this engine was 100 kN, more than double the power of the aircraft's first engine. Even compared to the TF33 engine, the capabilities of this modification were increased by 60 per cent in terms of key indicators.
From its inception, the KS-135 was intended as an airborne fuel dispenser for strategic bombers, but for more than 60 years it had to "cooperate" in the air side by side with almost all major US Air Force aircraft types, including the unmatched SR-71 Blackbird, a separate KS-135Q modification was created for refuelling with special fuel.
They took part in every known conflict from the Vietnam War to the second Iraq War in 2003.
Plastic model kit
Scale 1:144
Unbuilt / unpainted
The Boeing company created a highly successful Boeing -367-80 concept that would soon become an aviation icon under the name Boeing -707.
The military version of the Dash-80, which was closest to the original concept, was initially intended as a transport aircraft, but at the request of the military, which urgently needed a replacement for the already obsolete KS-97, the company quickly converted the aircraft into a fuel tank modification. That same year, a preliminary order was placed for a series of 29 KS-135As, which were delivered to the Air Force the following year in 1957.
Orders were soon increased considerably and a total of more than 600 KS-135s were built. The first modifications were equipped with Pratt & Whitney J57-P-59W engines with a thrust of 44 kN each. In the early 1980s, the aircraft was modernised, equipped with the latest avionics and fitted with additional Pratt & Whitney TF33-PW-102 engines, mainly from decommissioned civilian Boeing 707 aircraft. This made it possible to reduce their own fuel costs and carry 20 per cent more fuel for refuelling other aircraft. The next modernisation of these aircraft took place in the 1990s, by which time they had been in service for almost 40 years. They were equipped with CFM56 (F108) engines from General Electric. The power of this engine was 100 kN, more than double the power of the aircraft's first engine. Even compared to the TF33 engine, the capabilities of this modification were increased by 60 per cent in terms of key indicators.
From its inception, the KS-135 was intended as an airborne fuel dispenser for strategic bombers, but for more than 60 years it had to "cooperate" in the air side by side with almost all major US Air Force aircraft types, including the unmatched SR-71 Blackbird, a separate KS-135Q modification was created for refuelling with special fuel.
They took part in every known conflict from the Vietnam War to the second Iraq War in 2003.
Plastic model kit
Scale 1:144
Unbuilt / unpainted
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