From Spectre to Phantom

 

On this date in 1962, the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation delivered the first F-110A Spectre to the United States Air Force. The F-110A was intended to continue the "Century Series" but under pressure from Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, the USAF and US Navy aircraft designation systems were combined into a single scheme resulting in the F-1 to F-11. President Kennedy requested Congressional approval for the procurement of Navy F4H-1 derivatives for the Air Force under the designation F-110. The USAF F-110A and US Navy F4H-1 became F-4C and F-4B respectively. 

Above, Sanford N. McDonnell hands over the keys to the first F-110A Spectre to Colonel Gordon Graham and Colonel George Laven, USAF, at the McDonnell plant at St. Louis, Missouri.

The First of Sixty at Forty-One

 

On this day in 1980, the first McDonnell Douglas KC-10A Extender made its first flight from Long Beach, California. Based on the DC-10-30CF commercial transport, this aerial tanker can carry 356,000 pounds of fuel. Using a “flying boom” to refuel Air Force aircraft in flight, it also is equipped with a “hose and drogue” system to refuel U.S. Navy and Marine airplanes. Both systems can be used simultaneously. The tanker can also carry cargo pallets or a combination of personnel and cargo. Sixty KC-10s were built for the U.S. Air Force and two similar KDC-10s for the Netherlands. Forty-One years later, that first KC-10A 79-0433, above, is still in service.