The Final Farewell announcement teased a “Flyover” of the Long Beach Airport where it was built
On September 26th, 2024 the last KC-10 Extender will depart Travis Air Force Base to go sit in the desert at Davis-Monathan AFB. Davis-Monathan is nicknamed the “Boneyard” because it is rare for an airplane to make it out of there in flying condition. Since 1995 the KC-10 has been based at Travis AFB in Northern California and McGuire AFB in New Jersey. Prior to that the KC-10 was at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana and March AFB in Riverside.
The last KC-10 flight out of McGuire AFB in June of 2023, leaving Travis as the last base with KC-10’s in the United States. the KC-10 is being replaced by the much less capable KC-46.
The Original Plan
The original website postings about the event mentioned a “flyover” of Long Beach Airport. Long Beach Airport even posted it on their Facebook page. Former McDonnel Douglas employees that built the aircraft were happy to hear the news. Along with them many former March AFB military members that flew and crewed the KC-10 were also happy to hear about a “flyover”.
The final ceremony at Travis is restricted to those with base access. For those in Southern California the time and location of the event also meant two or three days away from home in order to attend. Many that did not retire from the military or worked for McDonnell Douglas don’t have base access either way.
The Latest Update
As of 9AM Sept 25th, the official word is that there is no flyover. Sources tell me that in fact it was originally planned as an enroute point on the way to Davis-Monathan AFB. That means the KC-10 would have been a small black dot even if you could track it on Flight Aware. Not much of a “Farewell” for those living in SoCal is it?
Multiple calls and letters have been sent to Ltc. Andrew Baer, the 9th ARS Commander and even his bosses. The answer is the same each time. Something like “The 06 says they’re trying to get the word out they won’t be stopping through LGB due to timing and people on board for DM events. Senior GOs won’t authorize.” We don’t know who the “senior GO’s are but we’d like to.
For those who crewed or worked on the KC-10 the Huntington Harbour Yacht Club is hosting a Final Farewell gathering. Former crew members and pilots will be there with photos from Travis and tours in the Middle East theater.