The last remaining active C-141 Starlifter, assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command’s 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, will host more than 100 former Vietnam War prisoners of war for a final flight on May 5—prior to the famed Operation Homecoming aircraft’s entry into the National Museum of the US Air Force the next day. This C-141 was the first to fly POWs from Vietnam to Clark AB, Philippines, in February 1973 during the repatriation effort. Inside the “Hanoi Taxi” are photos from the historic first flight out of Hanoi, as well as signatures of 110 POWs with their shoot down date and the date they were released.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.