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    Air Force marks 100 years of Air Refueling with nationwide flyovers, Sioux City plans flyovers in Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota

    On Tuesday June 27, 2023, units of the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command are planning nationwide, air refueling flyover events involving over 150 aircraft to commemorate 100 years of air refueling.
     
    The event will have Air Refueling units performing flyovers at major landmarks, population centers and state capitols in all 50 states.

    According to the National Museum of the Air Force the first successful air refueling took place on June 27, 1923, just 20 years after the the Wright Brothers first flight. The event in 1923 took place when a U.S. Army Air Service DH-4B biplane received gasoline through a hose from another DH-4B flying beneath. The purpose for the experiment was to extend the length of time the receiving aircraft could stay aloft.

    The mission of today's air refueling aircraft remains the same as is was one hundred years ago. Today however, extending flight has been expanded to a global scale.

    In one day, U.S. Air Force KC-46 Pegasus, KC-10 Extender and KC-135 Statotanker aircraft from the U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard plan to commemorate the 100th anniversary of air refueling by performing flyovers at venues in every state.

    Airmen from the Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing are planning flyovers in Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota. Media and the public are invited and encouraged to view the flyovers at the times and places listed in their states.
     
    A KC-135 Stratotanker from the Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing along with F-16 aircraft from South Dakota’s 114th Fighter Wing are planning to participate by performing a number of flyovers in the Missouri River valley region.
     
    In Iowa, look for flyovers in Sioux City at 9:50 AM, West Lake Okoboji 12:35 PM and Jack Trice Stadium in Ames 12:55 PM.
     
    In South Dakota a flyover is planned at the state capitol in Pierre at 10:25AM, the Badlands 9:40AM, Mount Rushmore 9:50 AM and Sioux Falls 12:20 PM.
     
    In North Dakota the Air National Guard aircraft plan to fly over Theodore Roosevelt National Park at 10:20 AM and the state capitol in Bismarck 11:40 AM.

    Sioux City’s “Operation Centennial Contact” flight can be tracked on www.flightaware.com. Look for callsign "TANKR85."

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 06.26.2023
    Date Posted: 06.26.2023 07:25
    Story ID: 447941
    Location: SIOUX CITY, IA, US

    Web Views: 2,026
    Downloads: 1

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