^(dramatic music) - [Narrator] During the early 1920s, the military needed to find a
way to keep aircraft in the air longer.
Early methods involved wing walkers carrying gas tanks on their backs, but the risks outweighed
the benefits, and a new solution was needed to be found.
The result was nothing short of what looked like an aerial stunt, four pilots, two biplanes,
and a hose dropped from one plane to the other.
This was the start of aerial refuelling.
The next advancements came years later with modifications added to the B-29 using a loop
hose method.
Using this system in February 1949, an American B-50 super fortress, the Lucky Lady, flew
non-stop around the world in 94 hours and one minute.
Yet this method still proved unreliable, particularly in bad weather.
New high altitude jet bombers meant a better way was needed.
A flying boom with a telescoping pipe was added to the B-29, and the first KB-29Ps went
into service.
While the KB-29s experienced a series of upgrades to the boom system, the B-29's aging air frame
and narrow fuel offload capability limited its effectiveness, and in 1950 the KC-97 became
the Air Force's first ordered and designated tanker.
Dubbed the stratotanker, the KC-97 quickly became the most numerous Strategic Air Command
tanker with more than 800 built.
Nearly every B-47 Wing had a KC-97 air refueling squadron assigned to it.
Even though they were new, the KC-97 had several limitations.
While a single KC-97 could refuel a B-47, it took two or more to refuel a B-52, and
took a significant amount of time for a KC-97 to get to cruising altitude.
The bomber would have to slow down to drop to the KC-97's altitude, while still maintaining
enough speed to stay in the air, burning a significant amount of the fuel it had just
taken on.
Fortunately, the KC-135 was in development.
In 1957, the Air Force procured 29 of them as an interim solution, but over the next
20 years, Strategic Air Command ended up maintaining nearly a one to one ratio of KC-135s to B-52s.
Now after nearly 60 years of contributions to countless operations, the KC-135 is being
joined by the next generation of air refueling systems, the KC-46A Pegasus.
(dramatic music)