KC-135 Tanker Mito/Cell Takeoff 

Old timer here. Boom operator from 63 thru 78. About 6000 hrs. Stationed at Sheppard, Pease, Fairchild , Anderson and Pease. Answer a few questions: Black smoke was from "burning " water that was injected into the engines for take off. We carried, if my memory is right, 581 gals of distilled water. It gave us about 10% more power on T.O. It lasted for 2 minutes. So the black smoke was from using water injection. New engines/ no water. We pulled alert duty for a week at a time in an underground hotel. Ready to rush to our aircraft and take off asap in case of a war. If we taxied while on alert it was called a Cocao exercise. Sometimes up to 40 aircraft ( 135 s and B-52s would start engines and taxi out and simulate a take off. We used 15 seconds between aircraft. The plan was to beat the H-Bomb that could be inbound. Practice, practice. The deal bout the R model being faster than the A model.... we were carrying your fuel to off-load to you later. A might bit heavier. Many cool and neat stories in SAC. Last flying was against the SR-71. A very good life. Jim Ford

The old A model tanker. Those J-57s were dirty engines. Hard to believe water made those engine so smoky. I used to come home black with soot after working on those engines. But I miss that. I retired 23 years ago from the Air Force. My sons in the Air Force now. And the tankers have CFM-56 engines by GE. Can't get over how clean they are. I told those young fellows working on them that I used to work on tankers and B-52s when they burned coal. Your clip made me home sick for the Air Force.

Those kc 135s were loud like thunder when I saw those things take off in person and seeing smoke coming out of those engines. I miss those sort of kc 135s. Nice video! I miss those thunderous sounds of the kc 135. That was my favorite sound to hear.

1970-1974 was an amazing time for seeing a variety of aircraft. My memory is fuzzy, but I seem to recall that we refueled either F84 or F86 during training as they were being phased out. Brought an F100 back from Thailand and those were still active in the Guard at that time. Saw lots of F4 and F105's in SEA. F15 didn't come into the inventory till after my discharge and C5 were being fitted for A/R but I never refueled one. At that time, one old Chief had been the end of WW2 (also had crewed B36) and a few guys from Korea service. Apparently, time marches on and the KC135 keeps on going! Thanks for the clips.

Thank you for the memory. In my day this was unheard of (video) I am antique 305ARW 1970s Vietnam era vet boom operator. Love this wish to keep forever thanx

Thanks for the memories! I was a Boom Operator 1970-1974. Lots of SAC alert time and 95 missions in SEA. I hope the new engines mean shorter takeoff roll.

After serving my 1 year tour flying with the 535th TAS in Vietnam, (1968-1969) I was assigned to SAC and flew the KC-135A out of Barksdale AFB 2nd Bomb Wing until I got out in 1972. Great memories of flying the aircraft with TDYs to Spain and England. I continued to fly professionally until I turned 70 in 2014. This was a good video of what those MITOs were like. It brought back my recollection of my Air Force experience and the Cold War as I knew it.

From one Anthony to another - thanks for posting this. This brings back great memories! I was a KC-135A crew chief from 1987-1991 at Barksdale AFB, 2nd Bomb Wing. Served in Desert Storm on board 56-3627. There was nothing like being around one of those old J57s when they "burn" water. The earth would literally shake beneath your feet!

Miss those days!!! Was crew chief , loved them water take offs , thanks for posting sir .

I was a GCA Controller at McConnell AFB, KS in '77-'79. The pilots my age know what PAR approaches are/ were and Wichita Mid-Continent Approach would hand the birds under radar control off to us for Precision and Instrument Approaches. All the aircraft going to the Boeing Military Aircraft Company for maintenance and upgrade also landed at McConnell so we saw a nice variety of KC's, EC's, and "other special varieties" plus B-52's and the Presidential birds. As those from this region know, summers can be hot and humid in the Midwest. Consequently, our heavily loaded tankers and any BUFF's had to pour the water to the engines and sometimes, the 12,000 ft 18R just didn't look quite long enough and during multiple launches the smoke would get pretty thick. For our viewing pleasure, we had the best seats in the house. When we were not "working traffic" we could step outside the GCA trailer or the "ready shack" and watch all acft take off, shoot approaches or "full stop". We were located in the smack dab middle of the airfield between 2 parallel N/S runways and crossing taxiways. If you have never stood midfield 100 feet from the edge of a runway during a MITO launch or when a flight of 4 F-105's departed, you have no idea of what you have missed! LOL! What a view! Those were great days! THANK YOU for this video and the rdo traffic, it's really nice to hear the coordination between the ships in the flight and the departure and center controllers. MEMORIES.

I have so many of the KC-135's taking off and landing while in the Air Force, especially while stationed at U-tapao RTNB, Thailand during the Vietnam War. I remember the crew of one tanker coming in to land and everyone who was on the flightline who had a radio was on it to tell the tower that the landing gear in front was not down and the pilot pulled that airplane up so fast and went around several times, but could not get that gear down and landed the airplane so soft and kept the nose up until he was about to turn it and taxied it up close to the control tower. That was the best landing I had seen and still remember it.

6990th 1974-1975. Man this brings back memories, but never enjoyed the front-end view. Thank you for posting.

I'm currently ATC and work the 916th's 135s daily. I'm interviewing in two weeks to fly them in AZ. Such a cool aircraft. Thank you for sharing your videos!

old IN from 93AREFS at Castle also time with 916th AREFS at Travis. Many hours in Looking Glass. Noticed the difference when flying the -135E, our training bird at OFF

THANKS for posting! KC135A Crew Chief 1980-2000 :)

thanx so much for sharing this video. and thanx so much for your service Anthony. i was an aviation machinist mate in the navy from 94 to 98 and ive always been amazed to see the 135a model take off with water injection.

I crewed on Q's at Beale from Dec 1968 to July 1970 . Numerous trips over the zone from Kadena on my TDY's. Nothing like watching a Blackbird pull up so we could pass gas.

That's 670 gals of water, and Co-pilot don't slap them switches, hold them the required time please! Crew Chief 7980, 32nd ARW. Had a Co-pilot rob me of 100 on time TO's with zero write-ups on return because he slapped them switches. Got to take a second shower that day and needed it to cool off! Loved the "A"s. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Worked engine shop on the 135A and B-52G and H's. Loved it out on the line, running water when weather permitted, I remember being able to hear the water pump on the 135 engine (J57-P-59) spin up for just a second or two before the water injection made hearing anything tough. Those pneumatic pumps were dangerous, saw a few of them come apart, you didn't go near them when the engine went into water. Those J57's were so loud that the noise would go right through you, you could feel it. I miss it every day. If I could just stand next to one of those engines running in water just one more time.......that would be good.

I have watched this several times now. A great video. Shot in real time with all the comms, it is truly atmospheric. To me it talks to the sheer professionalism and calm execution of the mission task. One of the best MITOs I have seen, as it is from crew perspective in the midst of the cell. This will be on my playlist for a long time. Thank you so much for posting!

I`m guessing the tanker behind you, bringing up the rear of the cell, started his roll between 4:50 and 4:55, and rotated around 5:45. If this had been a MITO exercise back then, the timing would have been alot closer; only about 15 seconds between the one ahead and behind.

Brings back lots of memories. A 35 sec mito was nothing. Try doing a 15 sec mito, that will increase the pucker factor. Plus it was windy so all the exhaust from the other planes was blown off the runway.

I was a Boom Operator from 80-90. Got to fly a number of ORI/Buy None exercises after being on alpha alert when the exercises started. That meant we launched from the alert aircraft parking area, complete with klaxon, race to the aircraft, cart start, and scramble. I will treasure those experiences forever.

I love finding videos like these. While modern military technology is no doubt mind blowing stuff and fascinating, I often feel nostalgic for the "old days" when many military aircraft were still powered by big, noisy, smokey turbojet engines. I was sad to see the B-52G models retired. Their J57s were much louder than the H model's TF-33s. I lived along a low level training route SAC used up until the early to mid 1990s and I often got see B-52s, B-1Bs and the occasional FB-111 pass overhead at 400 feet. They always made quite an impression on me. SAC was an amazing organization made up of even more amazing people. Thanks for posting this!

Wow, brings back memories! Flew out of Kadena many times in KC135q’s. Never had to do a MITO there, but we were normally two ship one minute spacing. At the school house at Castle, it was fun to train students in the a model at 12 second spacing and the r model at 15 second spacing. It was important training to ensure we could get our tankers off the ground in minimum time. I miss those days. Watching a squadron of planes takeoff during an ORI was to say the least impressive.

Big time memories...I was a SAC KC-135 nav. I recall 7 second MITO spacing in training at Castle, but maybe my memory fails me. It was the most exciting (and stressful) procedure. No room for any error or equipment problems...

The good old days...flew 4 years out Kadena AB with the 909 AREFS in “A” models. Did lots of MITOs in 80’s.

I really enjoyed the audio. You don't see many military videos with audio. Thank you so much

KC-135 boom operator 1980-1986. only 35 seconds spacing? back when, we used to do MITOs. (Minimum Interval Take Offs) nothing like 12 seconds spacing when you are number 12 of a gaggle. when i got in the KC-10's (1986-1999) we only had 1 minute spacing.

Don’t forget the folks at MCCLELLAN who maintained those birds for you! Loved that job!

STEAM JET BABY!!! Remember the 15 sec Mitos in SAC.

Crewed 135a"s at castle, 67-68 - my bird---- Horney Toad 56-136 very early , she was used for filming the biminy bomb test. I was in 7 yrs Minot-Ramey-Castle- U-Tapao great memories,wish I had stayed in. Thanks for posting.

BUFFs and flying gas stations. A thing of beauty.

MITO and Cell are two different takeoff procedures.

Outstanding...thanks. Spent 20 years on the KC-135A & R models....Griffiss, RAF Fairford, Wurtsmtith, and Malmstrom working Environmental Systems.

My dad was an aircraft commander in 1957 on KC-135A, before that he flew B-29, KC-29, and KC-97. He said he passed a lot of gas…lol! Sure miss him.

Man, the acceleration seemed slow, even with water.

Brewing A-model coffee takeoff!!!

Not only was it a cell take off with numorous aircraft. It was a MITO (for the young people), minimum interval take off. Haven't seen less than a minute in over 15 years. Grissom AFB did and 18 ship MITO once. All of them with water. The last one lost water and had to abort. Should have seen the takers bouncing all over the sky in the jet wash. Wing CC let all of maintenance drive down the runway after that. Woo Hoo!

Nicely done. It sure takes a lot of coordination and teamwork to get this many heavies in the air! (ret'd P-3C Nav, who went thru Mather AFB in 1984.)

KB4QAA - I was right behind you 7 years later. :-) Good times!

Thank you for posting sir!

Nice crosswind to clear out the smoke. NapoleonDynamiteLucky.jpg

S.A.C 1980 to 1990 crew chief 135,s all ten years at Castle. I have seen thousands of operations and I never once turned my back on a takeoff or landing I don't think. Loved it and have never regretted it. 93rd Bomb Wing 693 O.M.S.Squadron Tanker D flight. We were the best there was in the world......

This is some cool stuff man! Thanks for the footage!

Either the visibility was poor or my eyes are fading because I didn't see the 1, 2, and 3 tankers -- I just saw one and that one was at a higher altitude which isn't what I remember about tanker cell formations. Cell takeoffs were routine out of UTapao, especially during Linebacker II. I was on one out of UTapao during Linebacker II where due to a combination of factors, vertigo, napping navigator and communications mix-up, our tanker ended up following a flight of F-4s towards Hanoi and we ended up 200 NM due north of NKP. I'm most likely the only boom operator that witnessed a B-52 bomb train about 3 miles behind the tanker. Retired CMSgt and former instructor operator

JP-4, 155/Wet, the red bull of a Early Morning 909th Sac Mito.. Nothing like it.. "Always there"

I'm surprised they mixed R's with A's. It was always easier to avoid the wake from the A model with the smoke trail.

how is it possible a giant tanker take off just after another giant tanker? I can imagine the wind turbulence made by the first one wow...those engines were indeed powerful

Love from Türkiye.. a wunderfull starting

Degradation of the fleet would make a five ship all but impossible today except at the largest wings. But damn sure everyone is up to date on their CRT/Trans training.

Mx officer on A/Qs and pilot of R/Ts - that takeoff roll…soooo long and with water that was unreliable…. 😳

I didn't recognize it as Kadena! I was stationed there with our Navy P-3 squadron.

Holy F that's a lot of runway! Love those A models (not).

Hero of the air

that's freedom punching a hole in the air---39.8 yrs in working those jets as a crew chief love water burners

I did many many many TO's and landings in the jump seat. Many flights outta Kadena, Anderson, UTapao, Don Maung, CCK. I crewed 63-7985 back in th early 70's. Home base was Lockbourne AFB, Cols. Ohio. 301ARW. Loved this b1rd!

Ellsworth AFB, 1980-1982. Back when the 28th BMW flew B-52H's and KC-135A's.

No one kicks ass without tanker gas. Thanks for the videos. Would flights have been EMCON under wartime conditions?

So the idea is that you guys get away before an inbound strike? That makes sense, but what about all the people that get left behind? Do they scatter as well once you guys are out of there?

Worked IFR maintenance on kc135 75-78 miss those birds

you cannot but that experiance

so thats how they do it....

4:08 that's a lot of smoke from all those tankers

So what was it like trying to catch the R with an A model? I was a Mildenhall back in the 80's, was amazed at the performance of the R's on take off verse the A's. Also any idea if you still can get the R's are bigger then your shirts?

I can’t quite tell which way the winds blowing

This was several years ago because of the older jet engines on these jets.

Hey Co, great video!

My favorite was 10299 at KI...

Great vids! I enjoy seeing SAC aircraft. Unfortunately I wasn't in the AF at that time, but my father was and he worked 135s at Pease, Plattsburgh, Carswell, and Altus. I am a young 1 Lt at Barksdale and I want to go the pilot route. I wouldn't mind flying the KC-135 at all! What units were you with?

I used to sit in the jump seat on these, true blue Crew Chief

Where was this taken?

This Anderson AFB, Guam.

you don't often see a cell takeoff, they normally join in a flight rejoin and from there they fly in cell formation.. interesting vid.

MITO spacing was NEVER 12 seconds. It was 30 seconds. You can here the time called out in the video when the jet is taking off.

Thanks, great

So severely under-powered that it seems almost unbelievable.

Do large aircraft like the 135 usually put out black smoke like the one in front of you did?

the thumbs down must be from a Bomber Puke. So Slow..

tony was this a chemtrail flight pls respond

Not the best cockpit intercom discipline. The Nav would have busted a check ride for missed and confusing calls even before level off. Safety of flight issues.

This is Kadena

Holy smokes

Where was this filmed?

#HarrisWalz24

Are those A or E models?

I like more the KC135E better engines

Why not 15 seconds apart, like we had to do in the 70's?? thx

J5743wb

bring back SAC! the combined threats from a united russia- china alliance against us has NEVER been greater!! super energized China on a war path!!

Memories of the good ole days in SAC...SEYMOUR JOHNSON AFB crew CHIEF KC-135 57-2591 76-81

When I was in SAC at a KC-135 base. We were not allowed to have cameras on the flight line. To see the video inside of the cockpit. Weird has security changed?