Take a look inside an Air Force aerial tanker that kept fighter jets and bombers in the air

• KC-10A Extenders served as aerial refueling tankers in the US Air Force from 1981 to 2024.
• The first KC-10A Extender ever built is on display at the Air Mobility Command Museum in Delaware.
• Visitors can get a rare glimpse into the aircraft’s refueling operator station.

Museum visitors can take a closer look at the boom outside the aircraft.

The boom is labeled with signage from the 305th Air Mobility Wing, located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, where this KC-10A Extender served from 1995 until its retirement in 2022.

Hurlburt described the boom operator’s window as a “very rare view.”

“Very few airplanes have something like this, and very few people get to see areas like this,” he said. “We’re pretty proud of being able to show this off.”