My BA flight and Lakenheath video is up soon! Thank you so much guys for 100K views! I never expected this to get that many views! Thank you so much everyone!
I still find the contrast of a lumbering behemoth taxiing to a runway, then in a loud 30-seconds majestically taking flight an awe-inspiring marvel of human achievement. At 68-years old I’ve witnessed this thousands of times, yet it never gets old. My grandfather lived at a time when he witnessed travel by horse and buggy to eventually landing on the moon. 👍👍👍
Hello, I was stationed at Mildenhall from 1976-78 and know this flight line well. I am also 68 now and love to see the videos of Mildenhall and Lakenheath. Fond and cherished memories. I had the opportunity to fly on a KC-135 flight that refueled an AWACs over the North Sea about 5:00 a.m. one morning. We were 26 feet ahead of the AWACs for the refueling. Amazing, I could read the pilots name on their helmet! 40 years plus later and I still smile when I think back to those days.
BTW, always felt bad for the people that were living right off the end of Runway 28, humbly referred to as Fred’s Garden. They were right off the end of the runway so they always got the full roar of the KC’s no matter which way the takeoff roll was. ☺️🫣
@@johnakaoldguy3158 Thanks for sharing your memories! When I was in 4th grade, a bachelor who lived down the street was a USAF Captain who commanded KC-135s out of what was then Lockbourne Air Force Base at Columbus, Ohio (Now known as Rickenbacher International). I used to bug him all the time with questions, but he took a liking to me. Always wished I could take a flight with him. Cheers! 👍👍👍
i honestly thought that these had been retired alongside the other DC-10s but turns out they’re younger than you’d think! for a hastily converted plane they put in a lot of service across the four decades of use
Commercial Pilot all my life. Flew the DC10 back in the day. Still the best aircraft I ever flew and I’ve flown a few since but my love of aircraft still lies in this beautiful machine.
In 1979 I graduated from RAF Lakenheath American High School. One of my favorite pastimes in middle school while at RAF Woodbridge also, was plane spotting. I still have somewhere, Super 8mm footage of squadrons of F-4 Phantoms lining up and taking off. Getting goosebumps right now, recalling the memories . . .
79-1712. .....The 5th KC-10 off the line. Initially based at Barksdale AFB, LA. I remember this aircraft when it was blue and white. -KC-10 Boom Operator from 1986-1999. Thanks for the memories.
@@aviationin4k258 I have subscribed to your channel. Now I will see all your great videos. I normally am not into Military Planes, but these big ones are so very interesting. Thank you
I got a chance to visit Mildenhall once back in 1990. It was just before they retired the SR-71. We were on our way back from Wiesbaden in a C141 (luxury class ride at the time). Our hydraulics had gone out in the landing gear. (Watched crew walking back with a long tool to try and lower the gear manually.) I nodded off to sleep when they announce we would make an unscheduled stop (Mildenhall). I slept through the landing, with the bump enough to wake me up. Our Captain told us to look out the side as we taxied. The SR-71 was there in a hanger where we could see it. That was about the only good part of the visit as we were all but locked in our rooms so they wouldn't have to track us down. Then we transferred into a C130 for the flying sardine class ride back to the US.
I used to be a crew chief in the USAF. I worked on KC 135s. One day we a KC 10 that had visited our base. The flight crew asked if they could have some assistance for launch. Three of us volunteered to go help. One of the last tasks the ground crew does before an aircraft starts rolling is to pull the wheel chocks. On 135s we pull them to centerline and aircraft just rolls over them. We pulled the KC 10's to the center not considering it has an engine in the tail. When the tail engines blast hit those chocks they went flying across the tarmac, thankfully they didn't hit anything.
I flew on this as a little kid. A DC-10 when World Airways was around in the 70s what a kool plane . I Love the 747 but this is Kool with the 3rd engine on the tail or otherwise known as the vertical stabilizer
Yes when aircraft looked good .I know that aircraft now are fuel efficient etc but back in the day aircraft looked unique to todays shove an engine under each wing and all look the same
I've seen the KC-10(s) on FlightRadar24 flying many missions out of RAF Mildenhall to the eastern flank of NATO during the Russian war on Ukraine. Also many USAF KC-135's, UK and NATO airborne refuelers. It's interesting that they're posting the ADS-B data on a public website as if to tell the Russians "go ahead and make my day".
It's not the Russian war on Ukraine - it is the Russian response to eight years of murder of ethnic Russians in the East by the US /nato puppet "government" in Kiev on top of the relentless expansion of the nato murder machine up to the Russian border
The E-4B and KC-10 had the same engines (GE CF6-50 just different configurations of QEC and accessory gearbox) with 52,500 lbs thrust. On a wet day the E-4B could depart Mildenhall at 800 # but the KC-10 had to go at a reduced weight (eng loss on 4 eng = 3/4 power, on 3 eng 2/3 power). But the KC-10 could carry a lot of fuel to offload and we appreciated it a lot. To do the same offload it took 3 or 4 KC-135s.
I have to admit I do miss the distinctively unique turbofan whine of the original DC-10. I was disappointed not to hear it on the departing KC-10 Tanker. Back in the day, I could tell if a DC-10 was flying past just by the unique whine of its three General Electric Turbofans. The Lockheed L-1011 Tristar was a lot quieter climbing out of an airport - I clearly recall one climbing over overhead and catching me completely unaware. It was so low, I could see the rudder turn slightly. However, I’ve always had a soft spot for the original DC-10. Glad to see derivatives of the DC-10 / MD-11 series still gracing the skies and keeping us safe. Thank y’all for your service!!!
Great video, thanks! I couldn't help but notice the sudden change of direction while taxiing, how is this done? Is most wheel steering, wheel braking, control surface, thrust vectoring, or a combination of some or all of the above?
Many of those former DC-10s came from American Airlines. This is a stop gap measure for the aging fleet of KC-135s. They’ve performed extraordinarily well for the USAF.
The KC-10 Extender has been in USAF service since 1981. It wasn’t so much a stopgap replacement for the KC-135, as it was designed to fulfill a different role. The ‘135 is generally considered more of a tactical refueler, tanking aircraft in-theatre on “local” missions. The ‘10, by contrast is ofter used on missions flown directly from the US to distant bases or long round trips. The KC-10 can also refuel USN, USMC and other Allied aircraft that utilize the hose and drogue system. The KC-10 was purpose built for the USAF, but does have a high parts commonality with the DC-10. The Netherlands’ KDC-10s were converted from existing DC-10 aircraft. Hope this helps to clear up any confusion.
@@davidmessina8108: Unless the USAF pilots I spoke with deliberately made up this information about the KC-10s., I have no reason to doubt the information.
@@jamram9924 That's why it's called research. You look for definitive answers. When do you know they're definitive? A little birdie lands on on your shoulder and tells you. That's when you know.
Yes. Expect for the first -10 variant. On the -30 and -40 variants an additional auxiliary fuel tank was added into the belly which from memory contained an additional 45 tonnes of fuel. The centre gear leg was added to these variants to help support the extra weight.
Thanks for letting me know, but I find a tripod very hard to use with this camera! Also I didn’t have a stepladder at this point. I’m glad you thought it was amazing otherwise.
I flew on one coming back from Germany crammed along the wall cuz all our shit was stored in middle of plane. We got to look down into fueling pit while 2 f16s followed us stateside was so cool
Flew many hours in those jets as a crew chief when they were new for almost nine years. Many of those were spent on the hardstands at Moldy Hole. That's one of the first year ones from Barksdale AFB before it was transferred to Quagmire due to BRAC. I had a reserve crew from Maguire steal our jet when we were at Moron Spain, because theirs was leaking fuel and their reserve time was up. When the jet they left was fixed we had to go back to Maguire with that one and pick up another jet to take back to Travis. Unfortunately it was broken too. It was a week in New Jersey, but it felt like a year. I did get to New York City and see the Empire State Building. By the way, the movies are wrong, it takes two elevators to get to the observation deck. Also, those three GE CF6s put out over 150K lbs of thrust together. When it's not loaded with up to nearly 180K lbs of cargo or nearly 350K lbs of fuel or a combination of two equaling the 350K. It can sit you back in the seat and literally jump off the ground with a small fuel load and no cargo.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
My BA flight and Lakenheath video is up soon!
Thank you so much guys for 100K views! I never expected this to get that many views! Thank you so much everyone!
I still find the contrast of a lumbering behemoth taxiing to a runway, then in a loud 30-seconds majestically taking flight an awe-inspiring marvel of human achievement. At 68-years old I’ve witnessed this thousands of times, yet it never gets old. My grandfather lived at a time when he witnessed travel by horse and buggy to eventually landing on the moon. 👍👍👍
Hello, I was stationed at Mildenhall from 1976-78 and know this flight line well. I am also 68 now and love to see the videos of Mildenhall and Lakenheath. Fond and cherished memories. I had the opportunity to fly on a KC-135 flight that refueled an AWACs over the North Sea about 5:00 a.m. one morning. We were 26 feet ahead of the AWACs for the refueling. Amazing, I could read the pilots name on their helmet! 40 years plus later and I still smile when I think back to those days.
BTW, always felt bad for the people that were living right off the end of Runway 28, humbly referred to as Fred’s Garden. They were right off the end of the runway so they always got the full roar of the KC’s no matter which way the takeoff roll was. ☺️🫣
@@johnakaoldguy3158 Thanks for sharing your memories! When I was in 4th grade, a bachelor who lived down the street was a USAF Captain who commanded KC-135s out of what was then Lockbourne Air Force Base at Columbus, Ohio (Now known as Rickenbacher International). I used to bug him all the time with questions, but he took a liking to me. Always wished I could take a flight with him. Cheers! 👍👍👍
@@Sharmuta6311 No need for any “white supremacy” bullSchiff. You should delete your comment. 🙄
@@johnakaoldguy3158 felt bad???? I envy the hell out of them!!
After 20 years serving in the Air Force, it Never Gets Old! Absolutely magically magnificent!! Thanks for sharing this wonderful experience.. . ...
I can't stop watching this video. That is my son flying this plane in this video. I'm always so impressed with his work.
Thank you very much! So glad I could film this for you!
Thank you! I'm glad you could film it as well. I just wish I could download it without having to pay for another subscription. Ugg!
Love the old DC-10!
i honestly thought that these had been retired alongside the other DC-10s but turns out they’re younger than you’d think! for a hastily converted plane they put in a lot of service across the four decades of use
@@bostonrailfan2427 I believe Fedex is still using the old DC-10.
13 years flying DC10-30, wonderful aircraft.
What a beautiful sight. Life long airplane watcher and I never get tired of seeing this.
Glad to see the KC-10's are still flying all these many years later!
What an amazing aircraft! I also love all of the Brits who turned out to watch the takeoff. It's great to see people involved in aviation.
We really do love it! It’s amazing.
When car alarms go off you know it’s good 😊
Yes that was cool! The ground really shook as he took off.
@@aviationin4k258 thanks for the great video!
@@mikec9636 thank you! Glad to bring it to you.
Commercial Pilot all my life. Flew the DC10 back in the day. Still the best aircraft I ever flew and I’ve flown a few since but my love of aircraft still lies in this beautiful machine.
In 1979 I graduated from RAF Lakenheath American High School.
One of my favorite pastimes in middle school while at RAF Woodbridge also, was plane spotting. I still have somewhere, Super 8mm footage of squadrons of F-4 Phantoms lining up and taking off. Getting goosebumps right now, recalling the memories . . .
Wow! Great memories you must have there. Thank you for commenting.
I can understand completely as I worked on the radar system of the F-4E Phantoms while in the USAF. Still one of my favorite military fighter jets.
Yah I understand my dude I was in Nam back in the 80's flying jets and smacking broads left and right
Thank you for all the work you put into these great videos! Cheers from California🇬🇧🇺🇲
Thanks a lot! I’m glad I can bring these videos to you
I used to live a mile away from MD and Long Beach Airport. The maiden flights of these beasts was an incredible thing
Makes me miss my UK days!!!!
Amazing - great sight and sound! 👍👍
Beautiful, setting off car alarms.
Was a yank stationed at RAF Brawdy back in the late 70's great group of people.
Now that's a queen of the sky right there!!
79-1712. .....The 5th KC-10 off the line. Initially based at Barksdale AFB, LA. I remember this aircraft when it was blue and white.
-KC-10 Boom Operator from 1986-1999. Thanks for the memories.
Thank you for your service. 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇸
My father was 28 years USAF, My uncle was a boom operator in the mid 50's.
I was a crew chief on 79-1713 at Barksdale in 1986-88 until I transferred to March AFB.
I had the privilege of working on KC-10 avionics back in the 80s. I enjoyed every moment of it.
Currently working on the 10 now myself. 3 years now.
Isn't it really dangerous to work at a tanker? If there is one elctric failure, what then? Are they reliable?
Brilliant video. I’ve seen these aircraft on flight tracker but never seen a video before. This is truly majestic.
Thank you, glad I could show you this!
@@aviationin4k258 I have subscribed to your channel. Now I will see all your great videos. I normally am not into Military Planes, but these big ones are so very interesting. Thank you
I loved my times at Mildenhall. It was one base I always liked to visit.
I got a chance to visit Mildenhall once back in 1990. It was just before they retired the SR-71. We were on our way back from Wiesbaden in a C141 (luxury class ride at the time). Our hydraulics had gone out in the landing gear. (Watched crew walking back with a long tool to try and lower the gear manually.) I nodded off to sleep when they announce we would make an unscheduled stop (Mildenhall).
I slept through the landing, with the bump enough to wake me up. Our Captain told us to look out the side as we taxied. The SR-71 was there in a hanger where we could see it. That was about the only good part of the visit as we were all but locked in our rooms so they wouldn't have to track us down. Then we transferred into a C130 for the flying sardine class ride back to the US.
Yeah, flew on a C-130 from Clark to Tachikawa, then on to Travis on a C-141. Definitely a tin can to luxury liner experience!! This was circa 1967.
That plane looks awesome in military gray.
One of my favourite aircraft is the Galaxy c5 I was a passenger on her from incirlik turkey to ramstein Germnay loved the aircraft, happy days
That took skill! Beautiful Bird.
That was so cool!! Thanks!
DC 10s are still at it.
I used to be a crew chief in the USAF. I worked on KC 135s. One day we a KC 10 that had visited our base. The flight crew asked if they could have some assistance for launch. Three of us volunteered to go help. One of the last tasks the ground crew does before an aircraft starts rolling is to pull the wheel chocks. On 135s we pull them to centerline and aircraft just rolls over them. We pulled the KC 10's to the center not considering it has an engine in the tail. When the tail engines blast hit those chocks they went flying across the tarmac, thankfully they didn't hit anything.
I worked on that tail number. One of the first ones delivered to the USAF.
Wow really? That’s awesome. How old is she now?
@@aviationin4k258 I think 44 years old now.
Awesome aircraft - special movement!
LOVE IT!!! SCREAMING
Beautiful bird, thanks.
That boy was FULLY loaded!
Fantastic aircraft guys awesome showing 👍💙
Thank you very much!
To me this is the world most beautiful plane no other like this
First plane i ever took. Became my all time favorite the minute i heard those engines reving up!
The Sound of Freedom.
Awesome! Great video!
WHAT.A.BEAST!
Fantastic close shots🤩🤩
Imagine in 40 years these KC-10's will still be flying - certainly based on how long we kept the KC-135's going!!
Beautiful! 👍✈️
The 3 holer‼️‼️
First flight 41 years ago and still flying strong
i've always liked the DC-10, a mean looking aircraft
I flew on this as a little kid. A DC-10 when World Airways was around in the 70s what a kool plane . I Love the 747 but this is Kool with the 3rd engine on the tail or otherwise known as the vertical stabilizer
Yes when aircraft looked good .I know that aircraft now are fuel efficient etc but back in the day aircraft looked unique to todays shove an engine under each wing and all look the same
I've seen the KC-10(s) on FlightRadar24 flying many missions out of RAF Mildenhall to the eastern flank of NATO during the Russian war on Ukraine. Also many USAF KC-135's, UK and NATO airborne refuelers. It's interesting that they're posting the ADS-B data on a public website as if to tell the Russians "go ahead and make my day".
It's not the Russian war on Ukraine - it is the Russian response to eight years of murder of ethnic Russians in the East by the US /nato puppet "government" in Kiev on top of the relentless expansion of the nato murder machine up to the Russian border
Loose lips sink ships 🤫
"we are on the wrong side over"
"carry on, over"
Beautiful aircraft
Tri-tanic Departing!
My son is a Flight Engineer on the KC-10!
2 eargasms. awesome.
I remember the 70s and 80s, when commercial planes sounded like this.
Where was she headed
The E-4B and KC-10 had the same engines (GE CF6-50 just different configurations of QEC and accessory gearbox) with 52,500 lbs thrust. On a wet day the E-4B could depart Mildenhall at 800 # but the KC-10 had to go at a reduced weight (eng loss on 4 eng = 3/4 power, on 3 eng 2/3 power). But the KC-10 could carry a lot of fuel to offload and we appreciated it a lot. To do the same offload it took 3 or 4 KC-135s.
I have to admit I do miss the distinctively unique turbofan whine of the original DC-10. I was disappointed not to hear it on the departing KC-10 Tanker. Back in the day, I could tell if a DC-10 was flying past just by the unique whine of its three General Electric Turbofans.
The Lockheed L-1011 Tristar was a lot quieter climbing out of an airport - I clearly recall one climbing over overhead and catching me completely unaware. It was so low, I could see the rudder turn slightly.
However, I’ve always had a soft spot for the original DC-10.
Glad to see derivatives of the DC-10 / MD-11 series still gracing the skies and keeping us safe.
Thank y’all for your service!!!
Great video, thanks! I couldn't help but notice the sudden change of direction while taxiing, how is this done? Is most wheel steering, wheel braking, control surface, thrust vectoring, or a combination of some or all of the above?
Thank you! The turns are done by rudder control i think that makes the nose wheel turn on the ground.
Turns are done by a tiller. Power steering connected to a hand control.
I was all like, knock it off with all the turning ¡☆!
Fabulous video mate 👌👌
Great capture
Getting to sit next to a boomer fuel up your squadron airplanes is a great memory.
A testament to jet power.
Worked on many of KC10 EXTENDERS!
Love the old Death Cruisers!
my Fav aircraft!
Ground shaking effect? Guess I missed that part
Yep, you have to be there
So cool
Is it just me or are the KC-10s & C-17s the loudest jets ?
Many of those former DC-10s came from American Airlines. This is a stop gap measure for the aging fleet of KC-135s. They’ve performed extraordinarily well for the USAF.
The KC-10 Extender has been in USAF service since 1981. It wasn’t so much a stopgap replacement for the KC-135, as it was designed to fulfill a different role. The ‘135 is generally considered more of a tactical refueler, tanking aircraft in-theatre on “local” missions. The ‘10, by contrast is ofter used on missions flown directly from the US to distant bases or long round trips. The KC-10 can also refuel USN, USMC and other Allied aircraft that utilize the hose and drogue system. The KC-10 was purpose built for the USAF, but does have a high parts commonality with the DC-10. The Netherlands’ KDC-10s were converted from existing DC-10 aircraft. Hope this helps to clear up any confusion.
@@davidmessina8108: Unless the USAF pilots I spoke with deliberately made up this information about the KC-10s., I have no reason to doubt the information.
@@jamram9924 The topic can be researched. But that's hard. Easier and more fun to have a food fight.
@@anonymike8280 because everything online is 100% accurate and no lies 😳😜
@@jamram9924 That's why it's called research. You look for definitive answers. When do you know they're definitive? A little birdie lands on on your shoulder and tells you. That's when you know.
“Bad sound makes good video look bad.”
does this have a set of wheels in the middle of plane?
Yes. Expect for the first -10 variant. On the -30 and -40 variants an additional auxiliary fuel tank was added into the belly which from memory contained an additional 45 tonnes of fuel. The centre gear leg was added to these variants to help support the extra weight.
@@GeeBeeMike thats what i was thinking but i did not know the reason for it, thanks for the reply
is this a new type of plane?
No, this is around 30 years old. But this specific RAF version is newer than the DC-10
1:17 sound similar to a Soloviev D-30KP soviet turbofan
I didn't realize they still had some of these Old Dump Trucks Flying.
The refueling plane has a refuel port. I did NOT see that coming
I wonder if that's been used for a mission, like the Vulcan bombers had to rely on for the Falklands war?
Being able to refuel the refueling planes. That's some either really GOOD planning or covering for the lack of it.
He sure didn't waste any time getting the wheels up on that thing!
Off into the wild blue yonder.
3:27 Even the cars are cheering :)
Sadly this pretty airplane will leave USAF in near future
It must be a refueling air tanker, with that strange appendage at the rear of the plane
Have had kc10 at manston
Awesome, I planespot too!!
refueling for those planes patrolling the east
I read that KC-10's were retired.
I think they will be
I flew on a DC10 to Cyprus big and fast.
Jump to the 2:55 mark to see the rolling takeoff.
You're welcome
Is it just me or does the front on view look a little bit like the new Godzilla???
Brought to you by MDC.
I flew all cargo DC-10'S and MD-11's. The DC-10 was a VW compared to the MD-11 which was a Porsche!!!
I believe that's a "former" McDonnell Douglas MD-11F.
Rode on many of them while being deployed in the 80's.
Would have been an amazing video if it hadn't been shot through a massive fence with frequent zooming in and out. A tripod would have helped too.
Thanks for letting me know, but I find a tripod very hard to use with this camera! Also I didn’t have a stepladder at this point. I’m glad you thought it was amazing otherwise.
I flew on one coming back from Germany crammed along the wall cuz all our shit was stored in middle of plane. We got to look down into fueling pit while 2 f16s followed us stateside was so cool
Flew many hours in those jets as a crew chief when they were new for almost nine years. Many of those were spent on the hardstands at Moldy Hole. That's one of the first year ones from Barksdale AFB before it was transferred to Quagmire due to BRAC. I had a reserve crew from Maguire steal our jet when we were at Moron Spain, because theirs was leaking fuel and their reserve time was up. When the jet they left was fixed we had to go back to Maguire with that one and pick up another jet to take back to Travis. Unfortunately it was broken too. It was a week in New Jersey, but it felt like a year. I did get to New York City and see the Empire State Building. By the way, the movies are wrong, it takes two elevators to get to the observation deck. Also, those three GE CF6s put out over 150K lbs of thrust together. When it's not loaded with up to nearly 180K lbs of cargo or nearly 350K lbs of fuel or a combination of two equaling the 350K. It can sit you back in the seat and literally jump off the ground with a small fuel load and no cargo.
Thank you for taking the time to comment this! You must have nice memories on these planes.
I worked on that one also. It was I remember the 5 th one delivered to Barksdale AFB. My plane 79- 0434 was the 1st one delivered.
I use to gas them up in SAC back in the day
WoW
1080p is not 4K.
Yes but I can’t get it on UA-cam
Military version of the DC-10
This is McDonald Dc-10, at least originally
great 👍