Boeing C-135 Stratolifter

C-135 Stratolifter
C-135C Speckled Trout
General information
TypeMilitary transport aircraft
National originUnited States
ManufacturerBoeing
StatusActive service
Primary userUnited States Air Force
Number built60[1]
History
Manufactured1960–1963
Introduction dateAugust 1961
First flight23 June 1961[2]
Developed fromBoeing 367-80
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker
VariantsBoeing EC-135
Boeing NC-135
Boeing RC-135
OC-135B Open Skies
WC-135 Constant Phoenix

The Boeing C-135 Stratolifter is a transport aircraft derived from the prototype Boeing 367-80 jet airliner[3] (also the basis for the 707) in the early 1950s. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave the aircraft the internal designation of Model 717,[4] a name later assigned to a completely different aircraft.

Since the first one was built in August 1956, the C-135 and its variants have been a fixture of the United States Air Force.

It was developed from the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.[3]

  1. ^ Staff Writer (21 January 2020). "Boeing C-135 Statolifter". Military Factory. Archived from the original on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  2. ^ Hopkins III, Robert S. (2017). The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker; More Than a Tanker. Crécy Publishing Limited. p. 336. ISBN 978-1-91080-901-3.
  3. ^ a b Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1963–1964. p. 183
  4. ^ "Historical Perspective, Start of a Proud Mission" Archived 2014-06-12 at the Wayback Machine, Boeing Frontiers, July 2006.