As sad as it may look, the plane is being recycled- the metal from the scrap pile will be sorted, cleaned, and melted down into new aerospace grade aluminum ingots to potentially be used in brand new planes. It's a rebirth.
5:34 Look at those beautiful instruments being destroyed.. the fact that the whole cockpit instrumentation was probably left in, made me cry. I´m a huge cockpit enthusiast and the fact that a neat cockpit is being ruined makes me cry. I´ve paid over 1000€ at my local airport for a 737 classic EFIS, which comforts me a bit.
That was very painful to watch. I was a KC-135E crew chief for seven years then a boom operator for seven years with the Maine Air Guard and NJ Air Guard. Each airplane has a personality and we develop an attachment to them like they are a family member.
@@NAMEUNAVAILABLE0 I like to think you may have seen a sticker I placed somewhere. LOL. Its funny, back when I was a crew chief in the late 80's and early 90's we would get our travel orders in an envelope and there may be 10 copies of our orders and about 30 stickers in the packet. We weren't allowed to bring any home and if we ran out the jets had them stocked up as well.
@@c32load Yup! Don't know if they're still doing that today but I hope so. Anyone who knows nothing about that green sticker or what a "Mainiac" is, has lead a sheltered life. Those stickers are everywhere tankers went. Were you still at the 101st when one of your jets returned after duty at the 190th (Kansas Coyotes) with the tail flash modified to show a coyote chopping down the pine tree in the logo? All in good fun however......
@@NAMEUNAVAILABLE0 I was! I remember that and thought it was hysterical! A few of my cohorts didn't see the same humor in it but I thought it was a riot! I think we kept a coyote too or something if I remember correctly. There was something going on between the two units in jest.
It’s amazing once they’re completely torn down it makes you realise they’re like 90% air, it’s hard to imagine this once big airplane is now a small pile of metal.
And we cry about spare parts such as the scissors and actuators on the cargo door and many others that are no longer in the system to be rebuilt and they're going to destroy many of them here. Now I DO KNOW that after '56 there were changes in the airframes that make many of the parts non-interchangeable, but for some, the design never changed. And the price for anything new is astronomical.
Just think of all the stresses of flying and the landing and the thunderstorms with their massive updrafts and downdrafts they exerted on these airframes yet they fall prey to a simple destructive machine.
15 years working this airframe from the bone cold winters at Loring AFB to the heat in California at Castle AFB. The trailing edge flaps and ailerons are missing here, assuming they were cannibalized. My favorite plane to work on for it's simplicity. Fun fact: this is a Boeing model 717 and in turn a military KC-135. The first aircraft flew in August 1956 and the initial production Stratotanker was delivered to Castle Air Force Base., in June 1957. The last KC-135 was delivered to the Air Force in 1965. We use to say that when the KC-10 tanker goes to the bone yard, the KC-135 will be refueling it on way.
I don’t remember the tails but I probably learned about 135 maintenance on this exact plane. Sat on the wing one day with the instructor at tech school laughing about Navy guys marching down the flight line. Memories…
If you think this is flimsy, think again! Remember, this was a first of it's kind large frame jet designed in a post WWII engineering environment by some great Boeing engineers with green eye shades, slide rules and BIG imaginations to do things in the future that they knew could not be anticipated at that time. The KC-135 has and will continue to set aviation historical milestones and programed now to fly into 2040! The last of this fleet to retire will (may) be around 80 years old! But the only way it may survive that long is because it was designed with lots of redundancy--including structural redundancy. Conversely, modern commercial jets are designed to be as light as possible because fuel conservation is so directly impacting to operating cost.
@@NAMEUNAVAILABLE0 And THAT proves that this current obsession with fuel conservation is DIRECTLY HARMING FLIGHT SAFETY by reducing structural redundancy!
@@agentorange153 TOTALMENTE DE ACUERDO.... EL PASAJERO DE HOY ESTA DESPROTEGIDO TOTALMENTE,ESOS 707 (135) NO SERAN REEMPLAZADOS POR AVIONES CON SEGURIDAD 100%
Very sad to see such a workhorse go to scrap. The KC-135 was a great airplane. They might've had to scrap some of them to create more space. There still are a few KC-135Rs still in use today. However, there's no telling as to how long these CFM-56 powered airplanes will last. Some of these airframes are well over 58 years old.
3623....that's not too far ahead in the production line ahead of 56- 3638 we sent 3638 to the boneyard. It was beyond repair. I put a lot of miles in the air on that airplane.
Sad to see these videos normally. I hated flying in this particular 135-always seemed to have numerous problems. Still it would have been nice for a museum to take it or a static display somewhere. Retired boom operator.
They did! Perhaps you didn't notice that all the flight controls except for the rudder and rudder tab were removed? Also, the boom and all four TF-33's . This was an E model. The E model fleet engine struts were assessed to have accumulated corrosion and by engineering decision were placed on a two year/ 1800 hour "clock " that would lead to grounding if the corrosion wasn't repaired. My recollection is that 56-3623 happened to be at Sheppard when that clock expired and was grounded. If memory serves, OC-ALC wouldn't grant one time flight authority in order to get it to Davis Monthan for disposition which necessitated a contractor team to come in and cut the jet up.
Every part that's usable and not worn out is stripped. The scrap pile is then sorted, and all the metal is treated and melted down into aerospace grade aluminum ingots, which can sometimes be used to make new planes.
This was an E model. The E model fleet engine struts were assessed to have accumulated corrosion and by engineering decision, were placed on a two year/ 1800 hour "clock " that would lead to grounding if the corrosion wasn't repaired. It also led the AF to retire some E models while moving forward to complete re-engining the remaining fleet of E models to R Models which would have occurred back in the '80's but for lack of funding. The Total Force Tanker fleet now has a common aircraft which has great advantages in operation, maintenance, sustainment and so on.
As a person who lives within 8 miles of the home base of one of if not the largest KC-135 squadron in the world... this was hard to watch, why kill these beautiful birds
Yes! The APN-59 radar. The RT for that system was in the lower nose compartment and was not solid state circuitry. Even at that late date, It still used vacuum tubes like we once had in radios and behind the back of televisions.
Will never happen -- you can't have a tanker without pilots or a boom operator, in-flight refueling is far too complex an operation to trust to a machine!
Total waste of money. This is the heart of the Military/Industrial Complex. A self perpetual stream of equipment that will be designed, built, never or seldom used, then scrapped after 25-30 years.
This is sad, take them down the road and chain them down ! make them into cafe's or bars or hotel room or private homes ! To take them off to be made into beer cans is just wrong !
Would've been easier to just drop it outta the ass of a C5 though. I would've enjoyed watching it hit the ground too. This? This is boring & took too much time 🤔😐
I wanted to cry watching this. My brother worked on these airplanes.
fr no way
Ouch that hurts my heart. I mean it.
As sad as it may look, the plane is being recycled- the metal from the scrap pile will be sorted, cleaned, and melted down into new aerospace grade aluminum ingots to potentially be used in brand new planes. It's a rebirth.
Only some metal will be part of a plane the rest will be anything made of metal like soda cans
5:34 Look at those beautiful instruments being destroyed.. the fact that the whole cockpit instrumentation was probably left in, made me cry. I´m a huge cockpit enthusiast and the fact that a neat cockpit is being ruined makes me cry. I´ve paid over 1000€ at my local airport for a 737 classic EFIS, which comforts me a bit.
Love to have that instrument panel at the 5 minute mark.
I agree there are lots of inthusiest including myself that would pay hundreds of dollars for that stuff
5:00
0:21 It looks like plastic but in reality it's metal
For someone with over 5000 flying time in the 135 this was hard to watch.
looks like aircrafts are so lightweight and so flimsy, yet they carry millions of passengers and goods for decades. astonishing engineering.
That was very painful to watch. I was a KC-135E crew chief for seven years then a boom operator for seven years with the Maine Air Guard and NJ Air Guard. Each airplane has a personality and we develop an attachment to them like they are a family member.
A 101st ARW Mainiac! World renowned stickers placed conspicuously (and not so conspicuously) literally around the globe! What a hoot!
@@NAMEUNAVAILABLE0 I like to think you may have seen a sticker I placed somewhere. LOL. Its funny, back when I was a crew chief in the late 80's and early 90's we would get our travel orders in an envelope and there may be 10 copies of our orders and about 30 stickers in the packet. We weren't allowed to bring any home and if we ran out the jets had them stocked up as well.
@@c32load Yup! Don't know if they're still doing that today but I hope so. Anyone who knows nothing about that green sticker or what a "Mainiac" is, has lead a sheltered life. Those stickers are everywhere tankers went. Were you still at the 101st when one of your jets returned after duty at the 190th (Kansas Coyotes) with the tail flash modified to show a coyote chopping down the pine tree in the logo? All in good fun however......
@@NAMEUNAVAILABLE0 I was! I remember that and thought it was hysterical! A few of my cohorts didn't see the same humor in it but I thought it was a riot! I think we kept a coyote too or something if I remember correctly. There was something going on between the two units in jest.
Just seeing this makes me wanna cry my dad has worked on this model as the captain
It’s amazing once they’re completely torn down it makes you realise they’re like 90% air, it’s hard to imagine this once big airplane is now a small pile of metal.
Twenty years working KC-135s. It's hard to watch.
And we cry about spare parts such as the scissors and actuators on the cargo door and many others that are no longer in the system to be rebuilt and they're going to destroy many of them here. Now I DO KNOW that after '56 there were changes in the airframes that make many of the parts non-interchangeable, but for some, the design never changed. And the price for anything new is astronomical.
Just think of all the stresses of flying and the landing and the thunderstorms with their massive updrafts and downdrafts they exerted on these airframes yet they fall prey to a simple destructive machine.
3623 was my first Aircraft as a Crew Chief at March AFB Ca. 1974
I boomed on that jet - SAD
15 years working this airframe from the bone cold winters at Loring AFB to the heat in California at Castle AFB. The trailing edge flaps and ailerons are missing here, assuming they were cannibalized. My favorite plane to work on for it's simplicity. Fun fact: this is a Boeing model 717 and in turn a military KC-135. The first aircraft flew in August 1956 and the initial production Stratotanker was delivered to Castle Air Force Base., in June 1957. The last KC-135 was delivered to the Air Force in 1965. We use to say that when the KC-10 tanker goes to the bone yard, the KC-135 will be refueling it on way.
So sad to see, worked on this bird at March A.F.B. in 1987...452nd AREFW...Structural Shop...
Always sad to see these warbirds go. They performed their roles well during the Cold War and in Vietnam.
Sad to see this destruction😡
You know they use the parts to make new airplanes
I don’t remember the tails but I probably learned about 135 maintenance on this exact plane. Sat on the wing one day with the instructor at tech school laughing about Navy guys marching down the flight line. Memories…
Rest in Peace.. Big Bird
It's amazing how thick those wing planks are, yet they punched right through them like nothing.
Hard to believe we trusted our lives to something that flimsy ! I'm sure she seen a full life !! RIP 3623
If you think this is flimsy, think again! Remember, this was a first of it's kind large frame jet designed in a post WWII engineering environment by some great Boeing engineers with green eye shades, slide rules and BIG imaginations to do things in the future that they knew could not be anticipated at that time. The KC-135 has and will continue to set aviation historical milestones and programed now to fly into 2040! The last of this fleet to retire will (may) be around 80 years old! But the only way it may survive that long is because it was designed with lots of redundancy--including structural redundancy. Conversely, modern commercial jets are designed to be as light as possible because fuel conservation is so directly impacting to operating cost.
@@NAMEUNAVAILABLE0 And THAT proves that this current obsession with fuel conservation is DIRECTLY HARMING FLIGHT SAFETY by reducing structural redundancy!
@@agentorange153 TOTALMENTE DE ACUERDO.... EL PASAJERO DE HOY ESTA DESPROTEGIDO TOTALMENTE,ESOS 707 (135) NO SERAN REEMPLAZADOS POR AVIONES CON SEGURIDAD 100%
Very sad to see such a workhorse go to scrap. The KC-135 was a great airplane. They might've had to scrap some of them to create more space. There still are a few KC-135Rs still in use today. However, there's no telling as to how long these CFM-56 powered airplanes will last. Some of these airframes are well over 58 years old.
Not a single aviation museum wanted it? I find that hard to believe......... NKAWTG.....Nobody!!!
They actually melt the material to make new airplanes
Lol imagine if they put bibs around the necks of those machines 😂
This is too painful to watch. I am sure these 135s have a longer life span today. Totally unnecessary to do this.
It's a B model-too expensive to update-we had 2-both are now beer cans-
Yea there comes a time where the heavy inspections are no longer worth it. Cheaper to just scrap them
Yep if we keep updating this, we won't have room for the next gen. Too much money.
Give it to some kids to use as a club house. Or convert it into a restaurant and call it KC-I35 Diner.
@@socksumi 💀💀
Hard to watch this
I worked on these planes (Avionics).
3623....that's not too far ahead in the production line ahead of 56- 3638 we sent 3638 to the boneyard. It was beyond repair. I put a lot of miles in the air on that airplane.
Sad to see these videos normally. I hated flying in this particular 135-always seemed to have numerous problems. Still it would have been nice for a museum to take it or a static display somewhere. Retired boom operator.
😭 I can almost hear her screaming.
Whydo i demember something from jurrasic park 3?
As a pilot this is hard to watch. It's like scavengers feeding from the carcass.
Why wouldn’t they take off parts for maintenance spares?
They did! Perhaps you didn't notice that all the flight controls except for the rudder and rudder tab were removed? Also, the boom and all four TF-33's . This was an E model. The E model fleet engine struts were assessed to have accumulated corrosion and by engineering decision were placed on a two year/ 1800 hour "clock " that would lead to grounding if the corrosion wasn't repaired. My recollection is that 56-3623 happened to be at Sheppard when that clock expired and was grounded. If memory serves, OC-ALC wouldn't grant one time flight authority in order to get it to Davis Monthan for disposition which necessitated a contractor team to come in and cut the jet up.
I know this one had a cracked spar chord.
Every part that's usable and not worn out is stripped. The scrap pile is then sorted, and all the metal is treated and melted down into aerospace grade aluminum ingots, which can sometimes be used to make new planes.
“Code 1, zero write ups. How copy?”
Just put on a diagonal. We'll Cann the parts in the morning.
Feels like jurassic Park minus the t--rex head on that equipment
SOMEBODY CALL SHEETMETAL!!!
Failed the skin waviness checks
Makes me wonder if it was a grounded B model trainer they just didn’t want to update
It had a cracked spar chord, so it was used for maintenance training
So I guess there weren't any buyers for the flight instruments???
6:26 that’s what used to be a massive KC135
6:31 that’s what used to be a massive plane
why did they do this?????
This was an E model. The E model fleet engine struts were assessed to have accumulated corrosion and by engineering decision, were placed on a two year/ 1800 hour "clock " that would lead to grounding if the corrosion wasn't repaired. It also led the AF to retire some E models while moving forward to complete re-engining the remaining fleet of E models to R Models which would have occurred back in the '80's but for lack of funding. The Total Force Tanker fleet now has a common aircraft which has great advantages in operation, maintenance, sustainment and so on.
I see. Thanks for replying to me. :-)
Why are the excavators scrapping my favourite plane
As a person who lives within 8 miles of the home base of one of if not the largest KC-135 squadron in the world... this was hard to watch, why kill these beautiful birds
They are all disposable accessories. ASHES TO DUST.
Because they're old and worn out, and because you can then use the metal to make new planes (like maybe the brand-new KC-46 which is replacing these!)
@@agentorange153 i know i know just... its so sad still
Can you keep the cockpit
CRUNNNCHHH...tinkle tinkle tinkle.
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Subbed
U Wanna follow me too on yt?
Standard RyanAir landing tbh
still has its radar antenna on it.
Yes! The APN-59 radar. The RT for that system was in the lower nose compartment and was not solid state circuitry. Even at that late date, It still used vacuum tubes like we once had in radios and behind the back of televisions.
Lucy thinkin of usin it as a stove.
This is harder to watch than getting decapitated.
NOOOOOOOOOOO
Maybe they will make a drone tanker from it , thats the future
Will never happen -- you can't have a tanker without pilots or a boom operator, in-flight refueling is far too complex an operation to trust to a machine!
It looked like it's attacking the plane...
Oh come on scrapyard what did the plane ever do to u :(
Be too expensive to maintain
Total waste of money. This is the heart of the Military/Industrial Complex. A self perpetual stream of equipment that will be designed, built, never or seldom used, then scrapped after 25-30 years.
They eventually get too expensive to maintain.
@@tubsducke Yup!👍
Noooooo....😢😢😢
Why i only see is scraping planes
Pourquoi dementele??
A cause d'achat nouvelles flottes?
Now more airplane from scrap or beer cans...
May I ask , where private individuals can buy that scrapped aircraft materials?
This is sad, take them down the road and chain them down ! make them into cafe's or bars or hotel room or private homes ! To take them off to be made into beer cans is just wrong !
Its 2025, and i bet they regret this bc the kc10 is retired, and the Kc46 can't deliver.
This is too painful 😭
TOO BAD BEEYOTCH!!!!!
There's something deeply personal watching this. Nobody would understand unless you crewed them and fixed them. smh.
Such an insult to those who engineered and built these planes. Such a waste of resources to build, just for it to be destroyed.
You k ow nothing lasts forever. The plane was old and was too expensive to maintain. Plus, they use the parts to make new aircraft.
After flying the KC-135 for 29 years and 6500 hrs, this is just wrong............
Such a sad sight
Do yall not own a shear crane? But I guess you can barbarian it lol
I don't do that business anymore...I was done 10 years ago this month.
@convairjet howd you get in? Whyd you get out?
69 comments it had until i added one now its 70 muah ha ha
That is SO Wrong! So Wrong.
ลุงขอซื้อต่อ
Poor 707
Cassé 135..
No!!! That's the wrong plane!!
Nooo my kc
nooo
This is just pure evil. 😵
Call QA.
Would've been easier to just drop it outta the ass of a C5 though. I would've enjoyed watching it hit the ground too. This? This is boring & took too much time 🤔😐
I’m rating this vid out of 0
Some KC135s keep flying over my house and causing noise pollution at night. Literally. So much noise. I am in a rural village in Pakistan.