#rc-135

A huge black-and-white picture of an RC-135U hung on my bedroom wall (no, I didn’t have THE Farah poster). Robert Hopkins lll (Air Force brat later RC-135 Pilot.)

He moved from Beale Air Force Base to Offuff AFB in Nebraska. As a child Robert had to move often, which was normal he went from living at the home of the SR 71 to living at the home base of the majority of the RC-135 fleet, I saw these jets every day while volunteering at the SAC Museum at the end of the closed runway. I had an inkling of what they did, and my early exposure to British aviation magazines led me to appreciate the mystique they possessed when visiting RAF Mildenhall in England.~ Robert Hopkins in Hush-kit interview.

I’ve had the privilege over the last few years of getting to know Robert he volunteered to edit my father, Butch Sheffield‘s book. Unfortunately, He had to quit editing Dad’s book because another matter came up. I will admit that I did not know how privileged my family was to have him volunteer at first.He is an aviation author of the first degree very much admired by many. Although we lived just a five-minute walk away from each other during the time I lived at Beale Air Force Base, as a kid I didn’t know him. Robert was one year younger than me his best friend was Jamie Kraus, son of an RSO. He understands the competition, mostly friendly that I found between the RC 135 and the SR-71. Robert is a fan of the SR 71 but his heart belongs to the RC 135. He grew up and became a pilot of the RC 135 just like his father was.

I had heard about the U-2 versus the SR-71, competition but this story was new to me.

The SR 71 brought out competition between SR-71 crewmembers and the RC-135 also. I read about this story in Rich Graham‘s Book “Flying the SR 71 Blackbird “

The mobile crew of an SR-71 went to the Kadena Airbase, Okinawa, “O” Club to eat a quick lunch. (The mobile crew is the back or Buddy crew. It would consist of a pilot and an RSO of the SR-71 they were expected back to the flight line when the SR71 came back from the flight. In the officer club parking lot, the RC 135 crew noticed the locked car had a top-secret kit bag that they could see while peering into the back window.

They called the security police to report them!!

Being able to see this top-secret kit bag It’s a big no-no, Rich Graham explained So the SR-71 crew went back to their squadron and plotted their revenge.

The revenge was they made stencils of an RC 135 then went “stealthy” into the night with spray paint and stencils in hand, a group of SR-71 men spray painted the stencils, of the RC 135 everywhere they could, signs, polls, and buildings.

At first, the RC squadron was proud, thinking that it was one of them who had done the stenciling until that squadron was ordered to clean up the mess that the SR-71 squadron had made! Normally, what would happen is the RC 135 squadron would be the ones stenciling the silhouette of their airplane on SR 71 property. But this time it was the SR 71 guys that were doing the stenciling. I think they got off easy. Haha

This kind of practical joke would not be tolerated in today’s Air Force. I have been told this.

What is it about the SR 71 that used to drive so many people to compete with them?

Linda Sheffield