Originally Posted by
sandiego89
RAFEng, any rumors on why 86-0036 was chosen as the first KC-10 to go? I always find it interesting how it is decided which go first based on fatigue life, which updates they have had and other factors: like the AF Concorde that was retired before the rest due to never being quite the same after a heavy landing and weighty repair; the B-1B's seemed to all be early blocks that had a few differences from later blocks, and the first C-5A retirements were the very early blocks plus 3 or 4 "problem children" that were know as maintenance pigs or with certain quirks.
Lots of factors would be considered - including those you mention. Once a decision has been made to start divesting the entire fleet first - in preference to KC-135Rs - which appears to be the case now due to the huge difference in maintenance costs per flying hour - it is likely to be as simple as which aircraft is next due a depot level maintenance or has major components coming up to lifex.
KC-10A 86-0036 had 33,000 flying hours on it when it was retired.
https://www.airforcemag.com/air-forc...kc-10-retires/