Tankers
 

In May, 2003, a civilian 727 tanker was reported stolen in Angola. Some reports say it is still missing, others say the mystery was quickly solved. Regardless, I am puzzled in that the a/c was a tanker. I thought only the military had need for such a/c.

Are there a great many civilian tankers in use? What do they carry that delivery by land or sea is not feasible or impractical?

Missing B727
 

rjemery

I may be wrong but I believe the B727 in question was a cargo aircraft. I'm pretty sure that I have read somewhere that the aircraft after being stolen was spotted elsewhere in Africa, but as to it's current situation & status I have no idea!:hmm:

As far as I know, no B727 have ever been converted &/or used as tankers. The only civilian registered tankers I know of are Boeing 707's used or operated by IAI or Omega. I believe they are only used to demostrate & sell airbourne refueling to nations that cannot afford an airbourne tanker fleet like the RAF or Americans. I believe also that they lease themselves to lessor air forces to use for airbourne refueling. As for us civi' guys it's pick up fuel when you can at whatever airport :{

Hopefully someone with a better idea will reply to you, hope I have helped. I think I will try & track down this B727 (I will let you know if I find anything).

Happy Christmas & a Happy New Year, brgds

MriyaDream :ok: back to work:zzz:

I believe the aircraft was configured to carry diesel out to mine sites in the bush ,rather than as an air to air refueler.

Security situation on the ground/lack of suitable roads being the reason it had to be flown. Obviously very expensive but the economics of what was being mined must have been worth it.

There was a large thread on Rumours & News if you can be bothered to search for it.

:suspect:

A thread that covers the missing B727 is as follows:

http://www.pprune.com/forums/showthr...ght=stolen+727

It was therein that I learned it was a tanker. And while numerous sightings are recounted, reputable news sources still list the a/c as missing.

Yes, I guess remote mining operations would need to have diesel flown in. I would think, though, that to get any ore out, a road would have to be built in any event. A diamond mine might be an exception.

727 missing
 

Sounds like this is the a/c the US Security people are trying to track down, I read about it in a mag some time ago, they said it was fitted with internal tanks for extra range (?) A South African Engineer went missing with the a/c but is thought not to have been at the controls. It was last reported as being in a hangar in some West African country with a new paint job.:)