A KC-135 tanker is the oldest jet aircraft currently in Air Force service, an accolade it has held for over a decade.

costs 25 percent less to operate and is 96 percent quieter than the KC-135A. Under another modification program, a re-engined tanker with the TF-33-PW-102 engine was designated the KC-135E.

Just before 9:30 a.m., a Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker took off from McConnell Air Force Base. The tanker and its crew were based out of Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base in western Oklahoma.