The 427th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

unit. It was last assigned to the

4505th Air Refueling Wing The United States Air Force's 4505th Air Refueling Wing (Tactical) was an Air Refueling unit located at Langley AFB, Virginia. It was established on 1 Jul 1958 at Langley AFB, Virginia. The 4505th was the only aerial refueling wing in the Tactic ...

Langley Air Force Base Langley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Hampton, Virginia, adjacent to Newport News. It was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1 ...

, Virginia, where it was inactivated on 1 April 1963.

History

The squadron was established in 1956 by

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Lang ...

(TAC) to provide dedicated in-flight refueling, initially for

F-100 Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft designed and produced by the aircraft manufacturer North American Aviation. The first of the Century Series of American jet fighters, it was the first United ...

s, and later for other air refueling capable TAC fighters and fighter bombers. The 427th was initially equipped with Boeing KB-29M Superfortresses transferred from

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

(SAC). These aircraft were converted from

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

s to tankers using a British-developed hose refueling system. The 427th retired its KB-29s by November 1957, and was fully equipped with Boeing KB-50 tankers by the end of the year. These were existing B-50A, B-50D or RB-50 aircraft with armament removed and equipped with a probe and drogue refueling system installed by

Hayes Aircraft Corporation Hayes may refer to: * Hayes (surname), including a list of people with the name ** Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th president of the United States * Hayes (given name) Businesses * Hayes Brake, an American designer and manufacturer of disc brakes * Hay ...

, and capable of refueling three fighters at the same time. The squadron began to send KB-50s to be modified to KB-50J configuration. These tankers added a

General Electric J47 The General Electric J47 turbojet (GE company designation TG-190) was developed by General Electric from its earlier J35. It first flew in May 1948. The J47 was the first axial-flow turbojet approved for commercial use in the United States. It ...

turbojet engine underneath each wing to increase the speed and altitude capability of the aircraft. The unit's KB-50Js proved difficult to maintain to meet operational commitments, and modification of the aircraft to improve them would not be economical in view of their expected service life. Although TAC wanted to replace them with

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...

s, in 1960 the Air Force announced that

(SAC) would become the Air Force's single manager for air refueling. TAC's KB-50s would be phased out by 1964, while SAC would acquire additional KC-135s to support TAC. In April 1963, the 429th inactivated, and its KB-50Js were sent to the

Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable ...

Davis–Monthan Air Force Base Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (DM AFB) is a United States Air Force base southeast of downtown Tucson, Arizona. It was established in 1925 as Davis–Monthan Landing Field. The host unit for Davis–Monthan AFB is the 355th Wing (355 WG) ass ...

, Arizona.

Accidents

*On 8 January 1962 a BKB-50 51-0465 was lost on a flight from Langley AFB, VA to Lajes AFB, Azores. About 1:00 pm a transmission was heard from the aircraft about 240 miles off the East coast. By 7:00 P.m. a search was started for the missing aircraft. An oil slick was found about 300 miles off the US Coast but it is unknown if that came from the missing aircraftAviation Safety database
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Lineage

* Constituted as 427th Air Refueling Squadron, Fighter-Bomber on 1 September 1956 : Activated on 7 September 1956 : Redesignated 427th Air Refueling Squadron, Tactical on 1 July 1958 : Discontinued and inactivated on 1 April 1963

Assignments

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint D ...

, 7 September 1956 *

Eighteenth Air Force Eighteenth Air Force (18 AF) is the only Numbered Air Force (NAF) in Air Mobility Command (AMC) and one of the largest NAFs in the United States Air Force. Eighteenth Air Force was activated on 28 March 1951, inactivated on 1 January 1958, and ...

, 1 October 1957 *

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

, 1 January 1958 *

, 1 July 1958 – 1 April 1963 (not operational after 9 January 1963)

Stations

Robins AFB Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, south-southeast of Macon and approximately south-southeast ...

, Georgia, 7 September 1956 *

Langley AFB Langley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Hampton, Virginia, adjacent to Newport News. It was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1 ...

, Virginia, 20 August 1958 – 1 April 1963

Aircraft

KB-29M Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Bo ...

, 1956–1959 * KB-50/KB-50J Superfortress, 1959–1963

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

TacTankers.com – 427th Air Refueling Squadron
{{Tactical Air Command 427 Military units and formations established in 1956 Military units and formations disestablished in 1961 1956 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1961 disestablishments in Virginia