Mc DONNELL DOUGLAS KC-10 AERIAL TANKER

By the end of the war in Vietnam, the US Department of Defence had concluded that future demands on their current fleet of ageing Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers would quickly outstrip their capacity to respond effectively to ongoing US global military commitments.

Already stretched by a rapidly expanding South East Asian deployment, tensions in the Middle East as well as still needing to maintain US and NATO based support for their Cold War nuclear-bomber fleet, the USAF began searching for a multi-purposed aerial tanker and cargo carrier to supplement the KC-135s.

Both Boeing and Lockheed had large aerial tankers in development but these had fallen behind schedule and when the Defence Department put out their tender, aircraft manufactures looked at their existing military and civilian aircraft to see if they could be modified and adapted for the new requirements of the USAF’s new Advanced Tanker Cargo Aircraft Program.

Boeing suggested the militarisation of their popular 747 passenger aircraft and Lockheed, an extension of their C-5 Galaxy transport but the Defence Department were also looking at the need to chose an aircraft that could land and take off from smaller runways. 

In the end, it was McDonnell Douglas’s long distance passenger aircraft, the DC-10 that was chosen after two DC-10s were flown in for testing at Edwards Airforce Base in early 1972.

Even though the early DC-10s had the unenviable reputation of significant civilian crashes and engine failures, the airforce were convinced that with the refitting of new electrical, electronics, engine upgrades and reenforcing of the aircraft’s wing roots and fuselage they could realise their goal of a multiple purpose transporter and re-fueler that would eventually replace the KC-135’s and bridge the gap until the new generation of refuellers had entered operations. 

One of the main reasons for the choice of the DC-10 was that, despite its early safety issues, the aircraft already had thousands of proven air hours flying with civilian carriers across the world and was still in production meaning spares, servicing and maintenance could be more easily carried out on the militarised version.

In fact, even after being heavily modified for its new military role the renamed KC-10 Extender still retained some 88% of systems commonality with its civilian counterpart. The first KC-10 Extenders entered service in 1981 with a further twenty KC-10s being modified to add wing-mounted pods to increase their aerial refuelling capabilities. 

The KC-10's boom operator controlled the refuelling operations through a digital, fly-by wire system. Stationed at the rear of the aircraft, the operator had direct visual contact with the receiving aircraft through a wide window. 

Fuel could be transferred at a maximum rate of 1,100 gallons (4,180 lts) per minute; with the wing mounted hose and drogue refuelling set up able to transfer up to 470 gallons (1,786 lts) per minute. An automatic load balancing system and independent disconnect capabilities greatly enhanced the safety of the operations. The KC-10 could also be air-refuelled by another KC-135 or another KC-10A to increase its delivery range.

During operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1991, the KC-10 fleet provided in-flight refuelling to aircraft from the U.S. armed forces as well as those of other coalition forces, with in-flight refuelling becoming a critical factor in the success of the early stages of the campaign.

The KC-10, along with the KC-135, were also able to move thousands of tons of cargo and thousands of troops in support of the massive Persian Gulf buildup, where the KC-10 and the KC-135 conducted about 51,700 separate refuelling operations and delivered in excess of 125 million gallons.


The KC-10 has been crucial in supporting global military operations. As with the KC-135, it allowed strategic aircraft to reach their destination without stopping. Long-range deployment of tactical fighters was simultaneously provided in-flight refuelling and cargo airlift. When needed, it could reconfigure into an aero-medevac role to transport litter patients.

KC-10 refuelling C5 Galaxy photo: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=96383802
Civilian DC 10 crash photo: Pedro Aragão - CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17390093
Fuel filler nozzle photo: Brian Robert Marshall, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=105070404
KC-10 refuelling B-52 Stratofortress photo: Staff Sgt. Larry Reid Jr. - https://www.dvidshub.net/image/2754594/refueling-fight, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51671550
KC-10 refuelling F-14D Tomcat U.S. Navy photo: Lt.j.g. Scott Timmester - Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16247300

All KC-10 Instruments listed below come complete with a detailed, custom-built Scale Model of the KC-10 Aircraft on its Magnetic Display Arm; Mango Wood Display Stand & Plaque, plus Printed Fact Sheet featuring photo of instrument in aircraft cockpit - as shown in this PC3 Orion example opposite:

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  McDONNEL DOUGLAS KC-10 OIL TEMP INDICATOR

  McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Aerial Refuelling Tanker Type C43 Oil Temp...

  $610.00

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