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  • TINKER HISTORY: CFM International CFM56 (F108) engine

    The CFM International CFM56 engine is a high-bypass, two-shaft turbofan produced by an international consortium made up of General Electric in the United States and Safran Aircraft Engines in France. The CFM56 is the world’s most widely used turbofan in commercial aviation. The CFM56 powers entire

  • TINKER HISTORY: Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker

    The Boeing C-135 aircraft is a derivative of the popular Boeing 707 airframe modified from commercial airliner use to military missions with the largest produced model being the KC-135 “Stratotanker” purposely designed for air-refueling. The C-135 family has a large fuselage with traditional tail

  • TINKER HISTORY: Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter Aircraft

    The Boeing C-97 “Stratofreighter” was designed as a four-engine cargo and troop transport using components and design features from two previous Boeing designs, the B-29 and B-50 bombers, to make an entirely new transport aircraft. The large “pinched” fuselage is formed by taking two B-29 fuselage

  • AIR FORCE HISTORY: Capt. Lillian Kinkella Keil, AF hero

    For National Nurse Appreciation week, I get the honor of telling you about one of our greatest military heroes – medical or otherwise, Capt. Lillian Kinkella Keil. One of the most decorated women in American military history, this nurse flew on 425 combat evacuation missions in World War II and

  • AIR FORCE HISTORY: The Evacuation of Clark Air Force Base

    On June 10, 1991, Col. Jeffrey R. Grime, commander of the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing at Clark Air Force Base, began carrying out the order to evacuate Clark Air Base, Philippines. U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay eventually followed suit. It was worried that a harmless looking nearby volcano, Mount

  • TINKER HISTORY: Boeing AGM- 84A/D ‘Harpoon’ missile

    The AGM-84A/D Air Launch Cruise Missile is an air breathing missile capable of sustaining high subsonic flight using Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System guidance. The missile was originally developed for the U.S. Navy capable of being launched from land, submarines and surface ships

  • TINKER HISTORY: Boeing E-3 Sentry

    The Boeing E-3 Sentry is a special mission aircraft built around a highly-modified Boeing Model 707-320 commercial airliner. The Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS, is essentially a powerful airborne search and track radar system using a rotating dome affixed 11 feet above the top of the

  • TINKER HISTORY: Beechcraft AT-11

    The Beechcraft AT-11 is one of many variants of the popular Model 18 introduced by Beechcraft in 1937. The Model 18 and over 25 variants feature an all-metal design in the form of a low-wing monoplane, twin engines, cantilever tail with twin vertical tails and rudders. The aircraft sits on two main

  • AIR FORCE HISTORY: The early years of American air combat

    The Lafayette Escadrille, which became operational in April of 1916, was established as a squadron of mostly American volunteer pilots flying and fighting for the French Air Service during World War I. The planes, mechanics and the pilot uniforms were French, as was the commander, Capt. Georges