Boeing 767 takes to the skies

[D-IFF_ident]

The USAF's KC-46 Pegasus Tanker Finally Takes Flight


Yay!

Add some AAR devices and it could be a tanker.

[TowerDog]

Short body, must be based on the -200.
Nicer flying than the -300 anyway.

[BEagle]

That's the Boeing 767-2C engineering, manufacturing and development aircraft known as EMD-1. More or less a KC-46A without the AAR equipment etc.

First flight for EMD-2, the first 'real' KC-46A is planned for late April 2015.

Then there'll be the small matter of the flight test campaign to complete...

Good to see that it has finally flown though!

[Coochycool]

What is it with tankers that they have to give them really naff names?

Victor excluded of course!

[LowObservable]

I just missed being right. I called 1Q15 back in June, when they were still predicting FF before the end of September.

[tdracer]

What is it with tankers that they have to give them really naff names?

No idea where "Pegasus" came from, but the test pilots have really embraced it. Someone found a small stuffed 'Pegasus' and it has become something of an unofficial mascot. Not only has it been present in pre-flight/pre-test briefings, it was sitting on the flight deck glare-shield during last weeks "Gauntlet" testing and, sure enough, it was clearly visible sitting up on the glare-shield when the 767-2C taxied past during the webcast of the first flight takeoff.