From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

429th Air Refueling Squadron

Inactive US Air Force unit

Field	Value
unit_name	429th Air Refueling Squadron
image	KB-50J refueling VMA-214 FJ-4B.jpg
image_size	300
caption	KB-50J Refueling a Marine FJ-4B
dates	1954–1963
country	United States
branch
type	Aerial refueling
identification_symbol	[[File:429th Air Refueling Squadron - Emblem.png	200px]]
identification_symbol_label	Emblem of the 429th Air Refueling Squadron Emblem
Approved 1 December 1955

Approved 1 December 1955 The 429th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4505th Air Refueling Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where it was inactivated on 8 October 1963.

History

The squadron was activated in 1954 by Tactical Air Command (TAC) to provide a dedicated air refueling capability, initially for F-100 Super Sabres and later for other air refueling capable TAC fighter and fighter bombers. The 429th was initially equipped with Boeing KB-29M Superfortresses, modified bombers equipped with a British-developed hose air refueling systems and transferred from Strategic Air Command (SAC).

The 429th retired its KB-29s by November 1957, and was fully equipped with Boeing KB-50 tankers by the end of the year. These were existing B-50A, B-50D or RB-50 aircraft, with armament removed and equipped with a probe and drogue refueling system installed by Hayes Aircraft Corporation and capable of refueling three fighters at the same time. Even before the change to KB-50s was complete, in September 1957, the 429th sent the first KB-50 in the Air Force to be modified to KB-50J configuration. These tankers added a General Electric J47 turbojet engine underneath each wing to increase the speed and altitude capability of the aircraft.

The unit's KB-50Js proved difficult to maintain to meet operational commitments, and modification of the aircraft to improve them would not be economical in view of their expected service life. Although TAC wanted to replace them with Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers, in 1960 the Air Force announced that Strategic Air Command (SAC) would become the Air Force's single manager for air refueling. TAC's KB-50s would be phased out by 1964, while SAC would acquire additional KC-135s to support TAC. In October 1963, the 429th inactivated, and its KB-50Js were sent to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.

Lineage

Constituted as the 429th Air Refueling Squadron, Fighter-Bomber on 1 July 1954 : Activated on 19 July 1954 : Redesignated as 429th Air Refueling Squadron, Tactical on 1 July 1958 : Discontinued and inactivated on 8 October 1963
Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with the 129th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron as the 969th Airborne Warning and Control Squadron (remained inactive)

Assignments

Tactical Air Command, 19 July 1954 (attached to 405th Fighter-Bomber Wing)
Ninth Air Force, 1954 (remained attached to 405th Fighter-Bomber Wing)
4505th Air Refueling Wing, 1 July 1958 – 8 October 1963

Stations

Langley AFB, Virginia, 19 July 1954 – 8 October 1963

Aircraft

Boeing KB-29M Superfortress, 1954–1957
Boeing KB-50 Superfortress, 1957–1958
Boeing KB-50J Superfortress, 1958–1963

References

Notes

Bibliography

References

Knaack, pp. 186–187
Knaack, pp. 192–193
Knaack, p. 194
Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 Sep 85, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons
Ravenstein, p. 275
Mueller, p. 316

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

air-refueling-squadrons-of-the-united-states-air-force 1954-establishments-in-the-united-states military-units-and-formations-established-in-1954

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 429th Air Refueling Squadron — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report