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KC-135 facts

Ready to refuel

A 916th Air Refueling Wing KC-135R Stratotanker lifts off the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. runway for a mission Sept. 7. The wing operates and maintains 16 KC-135R aircraft for worldwide operational commitments. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Sam King)

The average passenger car could operate for more than a year on the maximum fuel transferred through the air refueling boom on a KC-135 in one minute (1,015 gallons). A gas station pump operating steadily for 24 hours couldn't pump as much as the refueling boom does in eight minutes.      

The four CFM-56 engines on the KC-135R put out 22,224 pounds of thrust each for a total of over 88,000 pounds.      

The electrical power generated on one KC-135 can supply all power needs for 35 average U.S. homes.      

Enough material is contained in the tires of the KC-135 Stratontanker landing gear (eight main gear wheels and two nose wheels) to produce 100 automobile tires.      

During aerial refueling, which takes place at about 500 miles per hour, the boom operator in the KC-135 averages twenty feet above the nose of the aircraft receiving fuel.      

The total fuel carried on a single flight of the KC-135 would be enough to last the average driver for 46 years (30,000 gallons).