These KC-10 guys just didn't know they were flying an airplane originally conceived and built as a luxurious wide-body airliner more than a decade earlier. Piano bar and club lounge notwithstanding, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 represented an entirely new type of passenger plane back in the late-1960s as it was powered by three giant high-bypass-ratio turbofan engines and featured a 'wide-body' fuselage capable of carrying more than 285 passengers in the lap of luxury on both transcontinental and intercontinental routes. I just happened to be flying with a crackerjack KC-10 crew from the 79th Aerial Refueling Wing (USAFR) stationed at March AFB near Riverside, California, and we were about to perform a simulated emergency breakaway maneuver with a receiving Lockheed EC-130 Hercules. The flight crew didn't seem to know or care that the original DNA of this machine was woven into a cushy passenger plane. After hearing the "Breakaway! Breakaway!" call through my earphones, the big tanker suddenly rocketed skyward like it had been shot from a cannon, assuming a flight attitude more appropriate to a Shuttle launch than a widebody jetliner. As I sat there staring through the windshield at nothing but bright blue sky, I realized that the aerial refueling universe was indeed a special one. These dedicated men and women deal with grueling hours of straight-and-level flight, punctuated by the intense refueling operations for which they were trained, and they're ready to fly on demand and at a moment's notice. Join me now as WINGS & AIRPOWER examines the exciting and colorful world that is aerial refueling, where we will attempt to answer the question, 'How did all this come to be?' As we researched this subject matter, my staff and I suddenly realized what a unique and special subject the history of aerial refueling was. We hope you enjoy the story as well.
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