Operation Creek Party

[Wigzy]

Stood up at Rhein-Main in 1967 with rotational ANG KC-97Ls to fill an air refueling gap in USAFE caused by SAC's entire KC-135 force being committed to the war in SE Asia or supporting the deterrent bomber force at home. On several occasions the bi-weekly rotation had to move to Mildenhall (yay!) due to ramp repairs or congestion at R-M during exercises such as 'Reforger'. Weekend visits by the KC-97s to other European cities were permitted and elements from the rotations often visited Mildenhall. They were also popular at UK airshows. There was always something weird about seeing a KC-97 hurtling upwards on takeoff with four turning and two burning - never seen a Strat 'hurtle' until then. The jets, fitted so that the fast receivers wouldn't stall out or worse, were incredibly noisy for their size and added to the surrealness. Here's a selection. The Operation ended after ten incident-free years when the KC-135s became available again.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/147668976 ... 9687008370

[Thunder]

Great nostalgia, but gez the -97 has to one of the ugliest aircraft ever.

[Mark43]

Gorgeous - some sexy shots there.

[Dan D'Air]

Interesting post. Thanks for sharing.

[graham luxton]

Great post - I remember them, although they weren't the only USAF tankers in Europe. SAC's 98th Strategic Wing at Torrejon operated KC-135's on rotation from their bases in the US. Torrejon was the base which supported transatlantic fighter drags during the 1960's and up until the mid - 70's, when the tanker force was relocated to Mildenhall. Prior to that move, all the KC-135's detached in the UK supporting ELINT operations at Upper Heyford and then Lakenheath/Mildenhall came from Torrejon. Sometimes, when not required to A/R the ELINT types, they refuelled USAFE types as well.

[apex]

How times change, no smoking within 100 feet!

Those shots alongside the A1101 at Mildenhall were a spoon fed gift for photographers.

[eagle driver]

I could not help having a sneak peak at these when looking at the Rc-135 thread probably the one aircraft that got me interested in Us mil along with Globies remember midnight dashes to Mildenhall for Creek party diverts.
Sitting on the roof of the QB when it was change over weekend waiting for the strats to come down airways ,listening to the controllers trying to get the pilots to give there tail numbers. Happy days Thanks for post and the memorys.
Incidentally the jet engines on the Kc-97L were taken from retired B-47s .

[F3]

Never saw this type in the metal but have a strange affection for it which maybe due to having had a huge toy Stratocruiser as a small boy.

[NickB]

What a stunning collection of pictures...
Ugly? Never!
We lost a lot of very interesting aircraft in the 1970s... sadly I'm just a tad too young to remember these.
Going cycling at Greenham Common this weekend, so will take memories of these pictures with me - thanks for posting

[Radartoils]

Where have the pictures gone ? Non showing with me, on opening up the thread !

[eagle driver]

Just checked it and it's working fine for me ,damn those strats look good.

[Knife 04]

Just checked it and it's working fine for me ,damn those strats look good.

You could always download a shot and add to your Flickr photostream

https://www.flickr.com/photos/eagle_dri ... otostream/

http://www.pbase.com/usnavypatchman/image/147496083