KC-46 Tanker Spotted With Puzzling Whitewashed Belly
Joseph Trevithick - Yesterday 4:36 PM
A Pegasus aerial refueling tanker has been spotted at Boeing Field just outside of Seattle, Washington with an odd whitewashing of sorts along much of the underside of its fuselage, as well as underneath parts of its wings and rear stabilizers. The appearance of this aircraft comes as Boeing continues to work to fix long-standing and serious problems with the KC-46A's refueling boom and the remote vision system that boom operators use to guide it into receiving aircraft. In light of these setbacks, the U.S. Air Force, the main operator of these tankers, remains unwilling to use them to support combat operations unless there is a dire emergency demand for them.
Dylan Phelps of Boneyard Safari shot some great photographs of the KC-46A question, seen at the top of this story and below, in the air and on the ground at Boeing Field, which is also known as King County International Airport, located just south of Seattle.
At a quick glance, the aircraft has a look that is somewhat reminiscent of the "Shamu" paint scheme – so nicknamed for its killer whale-like appearance – that older Air Force KC-135 and KC-10 tankers wore for a period before they received their current all-gray liveries. More recently, a Shamu-like paint scheme has appeared on a number of ex-Republic of Singapore Air Force KC-135s that are now operated by private contractor Meta Aerospace.
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