Word: kc
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Scrambling from Korat, Takhli and Ubon bases in Thailand, 56 Air Force F-105 Thunderchiefs and F-4C Phan toms headed for a mid-air refueling rendezvous with their KC-135 tankers, then zeroed in on the giant steelworks. Despite "extremely heavy" flak and ground fire that brought down one F-105 (the 480th plane lost over North Viet Nam in the air war), the U.S. jets unloaded more than 80 tons of bombs, mostly 750-pounders, on the target. Smoke billowed 5,000 ft. into the air, preventing a damage assessment. Next day the planes went back to Thai...
...biggest of the new Thai bases, all leased individually from the Bangkok government, is U-Tapao, part of the giant sea and air complex at Sattahip, 80 miles southeast of Bangkok. U.S. Air Force KC-135 jet tankers already fly from its 11,500-ft. runways, and Washington hopes that Thailand will soon approve the transfer to U-Tapao of the B-52 heavy bombers that now must make a 5,000-mile run from Guam to bomb in Viet Nam. Fearful of direct North Vietnamese retaliation, Thai officials are wary about granting such approval. "If the B-52 question...
...simulate fires in orbit, the scientists loaded test chambers containing high concentrations of oxygen into KC-135 jet transports and flew them through parabolic arcs, creating 30 seconds of zero gravity during each maneuver. In the brief period of weightlessness, they ignited a variety of materials within the test chambers and took color movies of the results. Though the fires lit up promptly, the flames began to die down within 1½ seconds; they simply smoldered or went out completely during the remaining period of weightlessness. Scientists estimated that the burning rates of test materials were reduced by as much...
Underwater Workouts. In an attempt to familiarize Aldrin with weightlessness, which until now has been simulated for astronaut trainees in an Air Force KC-135 for only 30 seconds at a time, NASA has been giving him workouts in a Baltimore swimming pool that contains a full-size mock-up of Gemini's equipment section. Dressed in a special pressure suit rigged with weights and floats that enable him to remain buoyant at a specific level underwater, Aldrin has spent hours practicing his EVA assignments under conditions that approximate but do not exactly duplicate weightlessness. Astronaut Cernan has also...
...caught Kasler's wingman, and he ejected. Kasler circled the area to protect him until rescue helicopters could get in. When Kasler's fuel gauge hit "bingo" (minimum remaining to get home), instead of leaving the protective watch to others, he elected to refuel from an orbiting KC-135 tanker and return to his downed buddy...