Interesting Item at Kirtland AFB

[bdk]

Deregistered Aircraft 1 of 1

Aircraft Description
Serial Number 18424 Type Registration Co-Owned
Manufacturer Name BOEING Certificate Issue Date 02/25/1984
Model 720-058B Mode S Code 52722311
Year Manufacturer None Cancel Date 09/19/1984
Reason for Cancellation Cancelled Exported To


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Aircraft Registration prior to Deregistration

Name KESSLER MELVYN
Street 1531 NW 15TH STREET ROAD
City MIAMI State FLORIDA Zip Code 33125
County DADE
Country UNITED STATES

Been sitting sine 1984 apparently... Maybe it was seized?

[Randy Haskin]

Model: 720-058B
C/N: 18424
Line #:281
Registrations:
- 4X-ABA (Israel, El Al Airlines)
- N8498S

http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=209811
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/993939/L/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/119714/L/
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=263468

Apparently there's a toy of this airframe, too!
http://www.brinkley.cc/PhotoData/AC/18066/AC18066.htm

[Randy Haskin]

Forgot to mention...the labs out there at Kirtland have used several C-135s as testbeds for airborne laser and other projects. Perhaps this was an obsolete aircraft purchased by the USAF for spare parts?

At least one website I saw listed that airframe at Davis Monthan AFB, Az, in 1985 -- I'm guessing at AMARC.

[JBoyle]

Forgot to mention...the labs out there at Kirtland have used several C-135s as testbeds for airborne laser and other projects. Perhaps this was an obsolete aircraft purchased by the USAF for spare parts?

There is also a ex-airline 747 there..used for non-flying tests. I can't recall what for...NDI for aging airframe issues? Or explosive tests for security issues.

[Rob S]

Hey Rob, Have you ever seen any interesting or old aircraft parts on www.govliquidation.com? You'd think that there might be old/new spares still sitting in some goverment warehouse. Thanks, Rob S

[bdk]

Saw an F-18 wing located in San Diego on GL one time.

[Tulio]

The Boeing 747, the 720, the 727 and I believe, a DC-9, are all located at an FAA facility on the West end of the airfield.

The 747 has the following lettering on the fuselage:

FAA - AANC / NDI Test Bed Aircraft

and it is in front of a hangar with the sign:

NDI Validation Center.

The 720 probably has a similar lettering on the fuselage, but when I saw them on October 23, 2005 it was already too dark and they were too far for me to be able to clearly distinguish the 720's lettering.

Saludos,


Tulio

[mrhenniger]

Forgot to mention...the labs out there at Kirtland have used several C-135s as testbeds for airborne laser and other projects.

Is this the model you are referring to?...
http://community.webshots.com/photo/475 ... 2405gZsBrd
http://community.webshots.com/photo/475 ... 2405lrwgrq
http://community.webshots.com/photo/475 ... 2405wVOcCi
http://community.webshots.com/photo/475 ... 2405seKvVM
http://community.webshots.com/photo/475 ... 2405ncxVXA
http://community.webshots.com/photo/475 ... 2405ZblRIy

I am curious as to what it's capabilities were.

Mike

[Xrayist]

Might be the right time for the return of THE HUMAN FLY!

[Aircraft Mech Paul]

The Boeing 747, the 720, the 727 and I believe, a DC-9, are all located at an FAA facility on the West end of the airfield.

The 747 has the following lettering on the fuselage:

FAA - AANC / NDI Test Bed Aircraft

and it is in front of a hangar with the sign:

NDI Validation Center.

The 720 probably has a similar lettering on the fuselage, but when I saw them on October 23, 2005 it was already too dark and they were too far for me to be able to clearly distinguish the 720's lettering.

Saludos,


Tulio

Hi All,

With respect, I wouldn't have thought that the Air Force would be doing NDI/NDT testing on 727, DC9, or 747 (as the USAF I believe only has the the few for Air Force One and the airborne laser project), these are all civilian jet liners and the FAA would be doing Aging Aircraft metallurgy/NDI/NDT testing on the airframes. The 707 is a different matter, while still in military service, the USAF may be profiling alot of the NDI/NDT testing on those airframes.

But, for the most part Boeing and McDonnell/Douglas (now Boeing) develops most of the new techniques in NDI/NDT found in use today. The FAA really doesn't do a whole lot of their own validation on these techniques. However, the FAA tends to like to have the final sign-off on any major type inspections. The FAA does quite abit of what they call POD studies with regard to NDI/NDT...POD meaning Probability of Detection, and they have a research center at Ames Iowa where basically pure research is done. I hate to say this, but, the FAA usually hands off the ball to the MFG and then signs off on the technique and the employment thereof in process. I know this because the airline for which I worked was a huge recipient of MFG testing, and I worked quite often with Engineers and NDI/NDT Technicians from both Boeing, McDonnell Douglas (prior to being bought) and Airbus. We used to do a lot of "debugging" of new inspections for the MFG prior to them becoming "in service" to the rest of the industry.

Just my two cents,

Paul