McConnell AFB, the main entrance to which is about six miles north and 1/2-mile west of our house, is to start taking delivery of KC-46A Pegasus Tankers within the next couple of weeks or so. Construction of facilities to support the KC-46A aircraft and crew/support personnel training mission has been watched with great interest over the past few years. McConnell AFB had been chosen for first deployment of KC-46A aircraft to an active-duty AFB in 2013. Construction of the required additional facilities began in 2014.
Below is a Wichita Eagle photo of two of the new hangars, as they stood in late February, 2016. (The large, round bales of hay are probably on Cessna Aircraft property where it abuts the northern boundary of McConnell AFB.)

The two videos of the KC-46A, immediately below and at the end of this posting, are from a Boeing website. In the video of the tanker in flight, note the appearance of aircraft in addition to the KC-46 aircraft. Can you identify them? (My identifications are at the end of this posting.) I recommend playing the videos from Boeing's website. The quality is better than that of the embedded videos.
Air Force accepts long-delayed Boeing tanker, bringing the KC-46 to Wichita soon
By Chance Swaim - January 10, 2019 08:40 AM, Updated January 10, 2019 04:53 PM
The wait is almost over for Wichita’s McConnell Air Force Base. The KC-46A Pegasus tanker could come to town by the end of the month, officials say.
The delivery will happen despite unresolved deficiencies in the long-delayed plane, according to an Air Force spokesperson.
Air Force Cpt. Hope Cronin called the decision to accept the plane from Boeing “a major milestone for our next generation tanker” that will allow the Air Force to begin operational testing and flight training. She also said the plane has deficiencies in its remote vision system that Boeing will fix at its own expense.
….
McConnell was selected as the first active-duty base in the country to receive the new refueling tankers, which will replace KC-135s that have been in service since the Cold War. Boeing said the first delivery to McConnell will be four planes.
Thirty-six of the tankers will come to Wichita eventually, a spokesman for McConnell said. Boeing is on contract for 52 planes. It expects to deliver 179 of the new tankers to the Air Force by 2027.
….
The KC-46A is expected to replace the KC-135 air refueling tankers that dominate McConnell’s two air refueling wings, the 22nd and 931st. It’s expected to be faster, fly farther and be more fuel efficient than the Cold War-era tankers in use today.
The KC-46 can hold 212,000 lbs of fuel for refueling, 12,000 more than the KC-135. It also refuels faster than the KC-135. The KC-46 refuels at a rate of 1,200 gallons a minute compared with 1,176 gallons a minute for the KC-135.
McConnell’s KC-46A Pegasus Fuselage Training Facility has been in use since May, and will train Air Force personnel from across the country.
From the KWCH-TV website: McConnell gives tour of KC-46 fuselage training facility
Posted: Wed 3:37 PM, Dec 12, 2018 | Updated: Wed 4:44 PM, Dec 12, 2018
Read more here: https://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article224220340.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: https://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article224220340.html#storylink=cpy
ead more here: https://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article224220340.html#storylink=cpy
Read more here: https://www.kansas.com/news/business/aviation/article224220340.html#storylink=cpy
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My identifications of the aircraft, other than KC-46s, that appear in the first video:
at 0:33 - F/A-18 Super Hornet
at 0:51 - AV-8B Harrier II
at 1:03 - F-16 Fighting Falcon
at 1:11 - F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-16 chase plane
at 1:23 - KC-10 Extender and F-16 chase plane
at 1:27 - C-17 Loadmaster
Please let me know if you think I've screwed up any identification(s). Of all the models in the list, the only one I have never worked with is the C-17 Loadmaster.
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