The EC-135 Looking Glass is shown without wings or engines due to space limitations
The Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum hosted a “Flight Night” on July 17, 2021, where visitors had the first chance to examine the EC-135 Looking Glass’s interior and exterior after it had just undergone a thorough restoration.
“We’re very excited and honored to share this project with the public,” says Curator Brian York, who led guided tours of the EC-135, to 3KMTV News Now. “This aircraft is a significant piece in Cold War history and we look forward to telling the stories.”
Following a year that was almost lost to COVID in 2020, restoration manager Andy Beemer and his group of volunteers have continued to move progress. “Due to COVID, it added a year to the EC-135 project timeline,” says Beemer on Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum website.
The restoration work included “prepping, masking, priming, painting, detailing, and reassembling the exterior of the aircraft,” explains Beemer. On the right main landing gear, restoration work was ongoing. Using paint markings and decals, as well as the reassembly of exterior antennae, doors, and other parts, Beemer’s team meticulously finished the aircraft.
Stars and Bars, a flag detail on the tail, the USAF logo, the RF Radiation “stay out zone” marks, and a yellow stripe on the aircraft’s belly are just a few of the fine details. The majority of the stenciling and sticker kit work was completed in June. The airplane is exhibited without wings or engines due to space limitations.
The basic C-135/KC-135 family of aircraft was transformed into the Boeing EC-135 Looking Glass aircraft for the strategic command and control mission. The Airborne Command Post for the Strategic Air Command (SAC) operated around the clock. For more than 37 years, the Looking Glass goal to ensure nuclear peace was successful. In case ground launch control centers are destroyed, it also offered an alternative way to launch Minuteman/Peacekeeper missiles.
At Offutt AFB in 1990, General John T. Chain Jr. made the final EC-135 Looking Glass landing. General Chain, Honorary Chair for this project said, “There was no other mission more important to the success of the United States winning the Cold War.”
Since 1998, when US Navy E-6Bs have taken over for the EC-135s, they have carried out a random mix of air and ground alerts. The repair of the EC-135 “Looking Glass” at the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum is thoroughly examined in the video that follows.
