The receiver is a WC-135 which accomplishes air sampling to detect and identify nuclear detonations. I was a tower controller at KMCC (McClellan AFB, Sacramento, CA) in the late 80s and the 55th WRS had four based there from the original 10. They flew under the callsign Lark (e.g. Lark 77). I had one runway 16-34 and we were almost always on 16. One foggy night one of them was returning to base and we were on 34 because it had lower minimums I think. Not only did the pilot bust minimums to land (there was evidence on the tapes) but on rollout, so used to making a LEFT turnoff he thought he saw his taxiway coming up on the left and turned hard left, smack into the muddy grass. Oops. It closed us down for the entire morning while they dug the aircraft out and towed it clear of the runway. No damage except to the pilot's ego..and career.

Written on 2021/03/19

I used to work these aircraft at Houston Center. I think there were two airframes, I have pictures of another from a static display at an EFD airshow that lacks the stripe down the fuselage, but I don't have any view of the tail number. Also below the cockpit it says "WB57-F" "SN-6313503" "Crew Chief Dale Colclasure" and below that: "Autopilot by El "Dale" O". :-) Several Costa Rica badges on it too which is curious. Anyway, they were used for "High altitude atmospheric research" at least, that's what we were told. They would go up to FL550 and loiter for hours, and when it was time to RTB they took FOREVER to descend from that altitude, something to do with the coffin corner I'll bet but I can't confirm. The line was originally designed and manufactured by English Electric in the late 40s!

Written on 2021/02/12

@John Felton There are plenty of propeller driven aircraft with T-tails, even down to small GA types, but on military transports in particular the high-wing/t-tail design is optimal for loading/off-loading heavy equipment and airdrop operations.

Written on 2021/01/29

Beautiful airplane. I had a lot of encounters both as a USAF tower controller in Sacramento and later as an en route controller at Houston Center. At KMCC they would arrive in the morning and always depart at "oh dark thirty." I would often catch both, working the day shift and then the subsequent midnight (graveyard) shift. KMCC was surrounded by residential areas so noise was always an issue and you'd think this behemoth would rattle everyone's windows during REM sleep but no, those giant high-bypass turbofans are amazingly quiet, just a dull roar. At the Center I worked oceanic airspace for a while and these guys would go out over the Gulf and let out the VLF antenna from the tail cone like a fishing reel, what we called "trailing wire operations", we had to protect quite a distance below the aircraft, 15,000 feet if I recall, but they were always in a warning area so it wasn't an issue.

Written on 2021/01/15

@Colin Seftel Well Nellis is the home of Red Flag (or at least used to be) which routinely hosts allied forces, so not unusual.

Written on 2021/01/01