December 8, 20169 yr Author Also interesting to note that one airframe in that picture is still serving!
December 8, 20169 yr 16 minutes ago, ClearedHot said: Also interesting to note that one airframe in that picture is still serving! 2 airframes Slow day at the retirement village? Edited December 8, 20169 yr by matmacwc
December 8, 20169 yr 1 hour ago, ihtfp06 said: What variant is the 135? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk That is a early 1955 A model with the original vertical stabilizer that did not have yaw damper installed. The engines are J57-59W Pratts or Fords. That serial# probably is no longer in the inventory as with all the 55 and 56 series jets have been parked stripped and cut up for scrap. Researched that tail# 55-3121 it crashed near Valdez Alaska in 85 with loss of crew, it was a RC-135T at that time. Edited December 8, 20169 yr by Prosuper more info
December 8, 20169 yr 1 hour ago, DirkDiggler said: I got 4 Me too, if active NASA service counts. Are any F-86 or Century Series fighters still in the inventory, even if only used by TPS or something? Edited December 8, 20169 yr by HerkPerfMan extra question
December 8, 20169 yr 4 hours ago, gearpig said: What a time to be involved in aviation it must have been. I just googled the B-36 for the hell of it and learned it was a testbed for some crazy ideas like tracked landing gear and wingtip towing of fighters. The B-36 was also the testbed for another kind of "nuclear bomber" - the NB-36H flying nuclear reactor.
December 8, 20169 yr Author 5 hours ago, matmacwc said: 2 airframes Slow day at the retirement village? The C-130 is an A model and all are gone as far as I know. The KC-135 is an A model and all are gone as far as I know. An argument can be for the B-57 as NASA still has three flying, but all the WB-57s are F models and the one pictures is an E model. If you care B-57E Tail #54244 is on display at Strategic Air and Space Museum, Offutt AFB, Bellevue, Nebraska. An argument could also be made for the BUFF, but that looks like a big tail and they are all gone. Fairly certain all the Tweets are gone, unless some dictator is South America or Africa has one in his garage. That leaves the F-86, several privately owned owns are out there and a company was using them to pull darts for you pointy nose drivers. Now you made me miss the early bird special so GET OFF MY LAWN. Edited December 8, 20169 yr by ClearedHot
December 8, 20169 yr 2 minutes ago, ClearedHot said: The C-130 is an A model and all are gone as far as I know. The KC-135 is an A model and all are gone as far as I know. An argument can be for the B-57 as NASA still has three flying, but there are all F models and the one pictures is an E model. If you care B-57E Tail #54244 is on display at Strategic Air and Space Museum, Offutt AFB, Bellevue, Nebraska. An argument could also be made for the BUFF, but that looks like a big tail and they are all gone. Fairly certain all the Tweets are gone, unless some dictator is South America or Africa has one in his garage. That leaves the F-86, several privately owned owns are out there and a company was using them to pull darts for you pointy nose drivers. Now you made me miss the early bird special so GET OFF MY LAWN. I was just going on basic models still in U.S. government service, not specific variants: 1. B-52 (USAF) 2. KC-135 (USAF) 3. C-130 (USAF, USMC, USCG, NASA) 4. B-57 (NASA still flies WB-57) If we're opening it up to all models that still have airworthy examples, a lot more can be added to the list.
December 8, 20169 yr Last configuration of 55-3121 before its last flight. Same jet and tail# in the group picture.
December 9, 20169 yr 4 hours ago, HerkPerfMan said: I was just going on basic models still in U.S. government service, not specific variants... I was just going on basic models still in U.S.A.F. service...
December 9, 20169 yr Also the NASA Super Guppy is a modified KC-97 Not necessarily "in service", but you can see the F-86, F-100, HU-16, A-37 (close enough), and Constellation still flying in private hands. Info stolen from another site: This photo appeared in Air Force magazine's Golden Anniversary issue, dated 5/57. Here is the caption: Nearly all the operational aircraft—for combat and support—in the US Air Force are shown in this "family portrait" made at the Air Proving Ground Command, Eglin AFB, Fla. Here's the full list: Sikorsky H-19 helicopter Cessna T-37 jet trainer F-86D Sabre interceptor Lockheed F-94C Starfire jet interceptor Lockheed EC-121 Super Constellation Boeing KC-97 tanker Republic F-84F Thunderstreak jet fighter North American F-86 Sabre jet fighter Convair F-102 Delta Dagger North American F-100 Super Sabre Martin B-57 Canberra Douglas B-66 Destroyer Boeing B-47 Stratojet Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker Boeing B-52 Stratofortress Convair B-36 Peacemaker Douglas C-124 Globemaster II Boeing KB-50 Lockheed C-130 Hercules Grumman SA-16 Albratross Northrup F-89D Scorpion McDonnell RF-101 Voodoo
December 9, 20169 yr NASA had a Tweet for spin training. They loaned it to the Test Pilot School at Edwards for the same purpose. Not sure if it's still flying but the Wiki NASA list of aircraft still shows it. If you include the world, Pakistan still trains their pilots with T-37s.
December 9, 20169 yr The B-66/A-3 flew until just about 5 years ago with Raytheon. Was at VNY a few years ago on a T-38 cross country and got them to give us a tour. They had a hangar with about 5 airframes in them. Pretty cool.
December 10, 20169 yr Me too, if active NASA service counts. Are any F-86 or Century Series fighters still in the inventory, even if only used by TPS or something? NASA had a Tweet for spin training. They loaned it to the Test Pilot School at Edwards for the same purpose. Not sure if it's still flying but the Wiki NASA list of aircraft still shows it. If you include the world, Pakistan still trains their pilots with T-37s.USAF TPS used to use an F-106 and the venerable Tweet, but no longer. Sent from my iPad using Baseops Network Forums
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