Humpback 747?
04-02-2009, 09:57 AM
#2
APC co-founder
Joined APC: Feb 2005
Position: B777
Posts: 5,853
Looks like a "green" E4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_E-4
The E-4A is an Air Force command and control aircraft
04-02-2009, 10:02 AM
#3
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Joined APC: May 2006
Position: ATP, CFI etc.
Posts: 6,056
Cool! he was on approach to McConnell and I happened to have my camera handy. Interesting airplane, very expensive looking.
04-02-2009, 10:18 AM
#4
APC co-founder
Joined APC: Feb 2005
Position: B777
Posts: 5,853
If you've seen Dr. Strangelove - Think flying war room
Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room.
04-04-2009, 09:42 PM
#7
Organizational Learning
Joined APC: Nov 2005
Position: Directly behind the combiner
Posts: 4,948
The E-4A was an Air Force command and control aircraft. The 3 As were all converted to Bs, the fourth was built originally as a B. The most distinctive exterior difference between the A and the B is ... the hump.
Must be that time for new paint.
.
04-05-2009, 05:47 AM
#8
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Joined APC: Mar 2008
Position: Curator at Static Display
Posts: 5,681
Other Clues
Cub:
If you look closely, you can see a slight "bump" in front of the cockpit windscreen (halfway down the nose to the radome). That is the air-refueling door.
There is a wire HF-antenna going from the vertical fin to the top of the fuselage. There appears to be the apparatus for deploying a VLF (Very Low Frequency) antenna from the tail cone. The VLF uses a weight (I think I read 50-75 lbs) and about 2 miles of antenna.
When in use, the VLF can transmit through ground and water to submarines (for nuclear launch-control). To do so, the antenna must be near-vertical, so the 747 goes into a tight turn around the deployed weight. It is hanging 10,000 ft below, and nearly stationary inside the turn, while they do a 'turn about a point.'
I'm not sure if the VLF antenna can be reeled-in, or is one-use, and gets snipped-off. I know if it gets stuck, they can snip it off.
If you look closely, you can see a slight "bump" in front of the cockpit windscreen (halfway down the nose to the radome). That is the air-refueling door.
There is a wire HF-antenna going from the vertical fin to the top of the fuselage. There appears to be the apparatus for deploying a VLF (Very Low Frequency) antenna from the tail cone. The VLF uses a weight (I think I read 50-75 lbs) and about 2 miles of antenna.
When in use, the VLF can transmit through ground and water to submarines (for nuclear launch-control). To do so, the antenna must be near-vertical, so the 747 goes into a tight turn around the deployed weight. It is hanging 10,000 ft below, and nearly stationary inside the turn, while they do a 'turn about a point.'
I'm not sure if the VLF antenna can be reeled-in, or is one-use, and gets snipped-off. I know if it gets stuck, they can snip it off.
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