History made , Fairchild Air Force Base successfully launched 20 KC-135 tanker take-offs with the minimum interval take-off (MITO) !

Wednesday was special , when a massive string of  KC-135 tankers was launched in quick succession out of the Fairchild  Air Force Base in northeastern Washington State, that made an instant hit for the trackers.

Later, It was revealed that , Fairchild Air Force Base has successfully launched 20 jets using procedures meant to reduce time between launches, making a piece of history in the process.

• The 92nd Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild successfully launched a 20-ship minimum interval take-off (MITO) Wednesday afternoon !
• The KC-135 aircrafts are backbone of the USAF's tanker force, with around 400 still active with them.

“This was an impressive feat boasting the largest take-off of a KC-135 fleet at Fairchild Air Force Base,” the air force base said. “Today we launched more Refuelers than are owned by whole countries.”

These kind of exercises are deployed to leverage the minimum interval takeoff (MITO) tactics that were made famous during the Cold War and are still employed today, though to a lesser degree ofcourse.

MITO reduces the amount of time between aircraft launches and automatically positions the jets in a standard group formation once airborne, according to the air force base. They added MITO as a vital part of a regular aircrew training regimen.

Before taking off, the jets lined up in an “elephant walk” on the runway. The air force base said the MITO was part of a proficiency and readiness exercise. It sought to validate their maintenance generation and operational capabilities to launch multiple aircraft using MITO procedures.

Maintaining an aircraft fleet of 60 years old is really remarkable , here in this case, the youngest of  these KC-135s is nearly 60 years old ; and doing a MITO exercise re-inforces the robustness of the aircraft design and the and maintenance activities being performed on these aircraft for such a long period.

“This capability showcases the readiness of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing aircrew and our 60 plus year old aircraft fleet,” the air force base said.

 Pictures Courtesy : Fairchild AFB