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Boeing 767: Gimli Glider to Air Force Tanker

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Author: Mark Dixon
Thursday, February 24, 2011
5:30 pm

Boeing 767 imageToday, the US Air Force awarded a $35 billion contract to build the next generation of air refueling planes to Chicago-based Boeing Company.  The contract calls for producing 179 new tankers based on the 767 aircraft.

I find it ironic that the new Air Force tanker will be based on the same airframe as that of the Gimli Glider, an Air Canada airliner that ran out of fuel over Canada in 1983. 

From Wikipedia:

The Gimli Glider is the nickname of the Air Canada aircraft that was involved in a notable aviation incident. On 23 July 1983, Air Canada Flight 143, a Boeing 767-200 jet, ran out of fuel at 26,000 feet (7,920 m) altitude, about halfway through its flight from Montreal to Edmonton via Ottawa. The crew was able to glide the aircraft safely to an emergency landing at Gimli Industrial Park Airport, a former Canadian Air Force base at Gimli, Manitoba.

I hope the Air Force remembers correctly whether to measure fuel in liters or gallons (which goes to the root cause of the Gimli Glider fiasco).

I guess this all goes to prove that even old things (and people) can arise from the dust and be reborn into something great.

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