Dover Air Force Base in Kent County, Delaware — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
KC-135E
Stratotanker
| | S/N 57-1507 | |
The museum's KC-135E was the first all-jet tanker assigned to the Air National Guard in April 1975, and it flew the last operational mission of any KC-135E on 14 July 2009.
In the early 1950s the Strategic Air Command (SAC) needed a refueling aircraft that could air refuel the B-52 Stratofortress. The refueler used at the time, the KC-97 Stratofreighter with piston engines, could not keep up with the B-52s in flight.
As a result, Boeing designed the jet-powered KC-135. The company also further refined the flying boom that it had developed in the late 1940s as a replacement for the slow hose system.
Originally equipped with four Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet engines, the KC-135 was modified with TF33 turbofan engines in the 1980s. This modified tanker was designated the KC-135E. KC-135-Rs (the only KC-135 flown today) have CFM56 high-bypass turbofan engines which are quieter, cleaner, and more fuel efficient.
The KC-135 fleet, supplemented by the larger McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender, is scheduled to be replaced by the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus.
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Location. 39° 7.058′ N, 75° 27.403′ W. Marker is in Dover, Delaware, in Kent County. It is in Dover Air Force Base. It can be reached from Heritage Road 0.7 miles west of Bayside Drive (Delaware Route 9), on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1301 Heritage Road, Dover AFB DE 19902, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American Mid-Atlantic, on the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: KC-97L (within shouting distance of this marker); UH-1H (within shouting distance of this marker); C-5A (within shouting distance of this marker); KC-10A (within shouting distance of this marker); C-124A (within shouting distance
Credits. This page was last revised on April 22, 2024. It was originally submitted on November 13, 2019, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 362 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on November 13, 2019, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
