On this day in 1964, the last of 732 Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers was delivered to the United States Air Force and assigned to the 380th Air Refueling Squadron at Plattsburgh Air Force Base in January. The KC-135 was developed to replace Boeing's slower, piston-engined KC-97 tanker and improve efficiency with Boeing's B-52 bomber. The Model 367-80 “Dash Eighty served as proof-of-concept prototype and is very similar in appearance to the Model 707 and 720 airliners but is structurally a different aircraft. It is also shorter than the 707 and has a smaller diameter fuselage. The newest Stratotanker in service is KC-135R 64-14840 at 56 years old. It is presently assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing, Ohio Air National Guard.
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