The last flying
Douglas C-133A Cargomaster transport aircraft touched down at Travis AFB, Calif., Aug. 30 where it will now rest in static display. C-133s operated from Travis between 1958 and 1971. “The arrival and retirement of the C-133 here really fills a void in our aircraft collection,” said MSgt. Terry Juran, director of the Travis Air Museum. “Only two bases had the C-133, Travis and Dover [AFB, Del.] They have their aircraft and now we have ours.” The return of the C-133A was more than 20 years in the making, with members of the Jimmy Doolittle Air and Space Foundation (formally the Travis Historical Society) playing a major role. “We wanted to have this part of history here at Travis,” said Dave Floreck, foundation member and former C-133 maintainer. “This arrival means a lot to so many people.” The aircraft was flown for several years in Alaska by a commercial outfit, CargoMasters Inc., which donated it to the Travis Air Museum, which plans to place the aircraft near the David Grant Medical Center, closer to the base’s entrance and future site of the Jimmy Doolittle Air Museum. (Travis report by SrA. Shaun Emery)
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.