747-100 | RobsBlogs

If you think of aerial refueling tankers, the Boeing 747 is not going to be the first plane that jumps to mind. However, a tanker version of the 747 was developed and is in service to this day in Iran. I haven’t seen one of those planes but, before they were built, Boeing undertook testing of the configuration on their testbed, the original 747 prototype. This is on display at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. When we were walking through the fuselage, we got to the read and found the boomer station. Apparently, it was not removed after installation. It looks remarkably similar to that from a KC-135 so I guess they ported the design across rather than come up with something significantly different.

Summer of 88 meant I had probably the coolest job someone like me could ever have. My summer break was spent working for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in the UK. I was involved in noise measuring work around airports in London and the vicinity. I spent a few days inside the fence at Heathrow recording all sorts of things taking off.

I did get some photos while there when it didn’t interfere with making recordings of sound levels. In those days, Pan Am 747s were a regular at Heathrow and here are a couple of their planes heading back across the water. They also had 727s at Heathrow supporting routes to Germany. That was a hangover from the post war split of responsibilities and probably seems anachronistic now.

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Tag Archives: 747-100

Boomer Position in a 747

Pan Am