When This First KC-135A Rolled Out, the last KC-97 Was Waiting to Welcome It
On 18 July 1955, the first Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker (AF serial 55-3118/CN 17234) dubbed “The City of Renton” rolled off the assembly line at Boeing. Boeing would go on to build another 731 of them for the US Air Force, but 55-3118 was a special aircraft with a special history.
Ironically, when 55-3118 was rolled out of the factory, the last Boeing KC-97L Stratofreighter (AF serial 53-3816/CN 17149) was there next to it. The jet is now on display at McConnell Air Force Base (AFB) near Wichita, Kansas, alongside a Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber, since its retirement in 1998. 55-3118- the very first KC-135A Stratotanker, never flew a refueling mission! Bet you didn’t see that one coming.
A Career in Evaluation and Testing
After 55-3118 took to the skies for the first time on 31 August 1956, the jet was accepted by the Air Force on 24 January 1957. The aircraft then spent nearly a year at Edwards AFB in California, undergoing USAF acceptance testing.
In early 1958, the Air Force loaned 55-3118 back to Boeing for testing with the airframe to improve the KC-135s being built as quickly as Boeing could rivet, bolt, and screw them together. 55-3118 helped improve every other KC-135 that followed the first Stratotanker rollout.
Still Testing After All Those Years
Between 1958 and 1960 55-3118 flew test flights for Boeing. Then during July of 1960 the jet was transferred to Tinker AFB in Oklahoma for re-installation of its military equipment post-Boeing test. From there it was on to Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio for duty with the Air Force Flight Test Division.
55-3118 was transferred to Tactical Air Command (TAC) on 21 January 1961, and was promptly modified to the EC-135K specification in 1962. The jet spent the next 16 years with the 18th Airborne Command and Control Squadron (ACCS) at Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina, serving as the personal transport for the TAC commander. 55-3118 supported TAC deployments all over the world between 1962 and 1978.
The General’s Personal Transport
During those years with the 18th ACCS, 55-3118 did something unique. In 1971 the jet flew Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to China on a secret mission to prepare for President Richard Nixon’s historic first visit. It was Kissinger who made the first personal diplomatic contact with China since the Cold War began.
Between 1978 and 1996, the aircraft served with the 8th Tactical Deployment Squadron of the 552nd Air Control Wing out of Tinker AFB in Oklahoma. In 1982, 53-3118 received TF33-PW-103 turbofan engines at Tinker AFB. In 1996, the aircraft was transferred to the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews AFB in Maryland. 55-3118 was converted back to standard KC-135A specifications before being placed on display as a gate guardian at McConnell in 1998.
