With the recent arrival of WC-135R 64-14836 to Offutt AFB and the 55th Wing, WC-135W 62-2667 joins sister aircraft 5382 in retirement status.
Shiner51 flew from Lincoln (The 55th Wing’s temporary home) this morning to L3Harris at Greenville, TX for the removal of it’s sensor suites and communication equipment. It worked the pattern for a fair bit of time.
Aircraft 667 has flown thousands of missions in it’s role as a atmospheric monitoring and nuclear particulate detection platform, including notable world events such as Chernobyl, the nuclear tests performed by Russia, China, and North Korea, and the Fukushima Nuclear disaster of 2011.
This aircraft sparked my interest in the RC-135 mission, and specifically electronic and atmospheric intelligence back in the spring of 2020. It was only fitting to see it off, one last time.
It has earned a well deserved retirement after sixty plus years of service.
