{"id":179326,"date":"2025-02-24T16:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T06:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simpleflying.com\/oldest-us-military-aircraft-still-flying\/"},"modified":"2025-02-24T16:00:15","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T06:00:15","slug":"what-is-the-oldest-us-military-aircraft-still-flying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326","title":{"rendered":"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What is         <span class=\"display-card-hyperlink-article\" data-id=\"2032532\"><a href=\"https:\/\/simpleflying.com\/top-5-oldest-us-air-force-aircraft-service\/\" >the oldest aircraft in service in the United States Air Force<\/a><\/span>? When it comes to the US Navy, the answer to that question is easy. The oldest US ship in service is the wooden frigate, USS <em>Constitution<\/em>, aka Old Ironsides, which first launched in 1797. In the             <span class=\"display-card-hyperlink display-card-hyperlink-no-vignette\" data-id=\"1835\"style=\";  ;\" class=\"display-card-hyperlink display-card-hyperlink-no-vignette\"><a href=\"https:\/\/simpleflying.com\/tag\/air-force\/\"  >Air Force<\/a><\/span>, the oldest jet aircraft in service is         <span class=\"display-card-hyperlink-article\" data-id=\"2030083\"><a href=\"https:\/\/simpleflying.com\/roles-kc-135-stratotanker-us-military-missions\/\" >a KC-135 Stratotanker<\/a><\/span> with the tail number 57-1719. That aircraft was built in 1957 and is still flying refueling missions. The             <span class=\"display-card-hyperlink display-card-hyperlink-no-vignette\" data-id=\"60642\"style=\";  ;\" class=\"display-card-hyperlink display-card-hyperlink-no-vignette\"><a href=\"https:\/\/simpleflying.com\/tag\/b-52\/\"  >B-52<\/a><\/span> Stratofortress seems to be the oldest type of aircraft in service as it first flew in 1952. The oldest military aircraft still in production is the             <span class=\"display-card-hyperlink display-card-hyperlink-no-vignette\" data-id=\"255371\"style=\";  ;\" class=\"display-card-hyperlink display-card-hyperlink-no-vignette\"><a href=\"https:\/\/simpleflying.com\/tag\/c-130\/\"  >C-130<\/a><\/span> Hercules family that first flew in 1954.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A KC-135 tanker is the oldest jet aircraft currently in Air Force service, an accolade it has held for over a decade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8316,396,2038,6067,412,423,1328],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-179326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-air-tanker","category-aircraft","category-b-52","category-c-130","category-military","category-united-states","category-united-states-air-force"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro 4.9.8 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A KC-135 tanker is the oldest jet aircraft currently in Air Force service, an accolade it has held for over a decade.\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guest authors\"\/>\n\t<meta name=\"google-site-verification\" content=\"1EIWGZ5FoylKQrO3pqls-2hXlDXKIP1lffdWZCVV0V4\" \/>\n\t<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"generator\" content=\"All in One SEO Pro (AIOSEO) 4.9.8\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"VibeWire Magazine - Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying? - VibeWire Magazine\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A KC-135 tanker is the oldest jet aircraft currently in Air Force service, an accolade it has held for over a decade.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-24T06:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-24T06:00:15+00:00\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@VibewireCentral\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying? - VibeWire Magazine\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A KC-135 tanker is the oldest jet aircraft currently in Air Force service, an accolade it has held for over a decade.\" \/>\n\t\t<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@VibewireCentral\" \/>\n\t\t<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"aioseo-schema\">\n\t\t\t{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BlogPosting\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326#blogposting\",\"name\":\"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying? - VibeWire Magazine\",\"headline\":\"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying?\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?author=13#author\"},\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Screenshot-2024-01-07-at-2.32.21\\u202fpm.png\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#articleImage\",\"width\":1028,\"height\":930},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-24T16:00:15+10:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-24T16:00:15+10:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326#webpage\"},\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326#webpage\"},\"articleSection\":\"air tanker, aircraft, b-52, c-130, Military, United States, United States Air Force\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326#breadcrumblist\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au#listItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?cat=396#listItem\",\"name\":\"aircraft\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?cat=396#listItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"aircraft\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?cat=396\",\"nextItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326#listItem\",\"name\":\"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying?\"},\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au#listItem\",\"name\":\"Home\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326#listItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying?\",\"previousItem\":{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?cat=396#listItem\",\"name\":\"aircraft\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"VibreWire Online\",\"description\":\"Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/Screenshot-2024-01-07-at-2.32.21\\u202fpm.png\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326\\\/#organizationLogo\",\"width\":1028,\"height\":930},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326\\\/#organizationLogo\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/twitter.com\\\/VibewireCentral\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?author=13#author\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?author=13\",\"name\":\"Guest authors\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326#authorImage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/764687183b9d2913837d7b543a5b43684d46e7eef4e1a9af4821624eb2bebbc0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"width\":96,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"Guest authors\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326\",\"name\":\"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying? - VibeWire Magazine\",\"description\":\"A KC-135 tanker is the oldest jet aircraft currently in Air Force service, an accolade it has held for over a decade.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#website\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?p=179326#breadcrumblist\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?author=13#author\"},\"creator\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/?author=13#author\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-24T16:00:15+10:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-24T16:00:15+10:00\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/\",\"name\":\"VibreWire Online\",\"description\":\"Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vibewire.com.au\\\/#organization\"}}]}\n\t\t<\/script>\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO Pro -->\r\n\t\t<title>What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying? - VibeWire Magazine<\/title>\n\n","aioseo_head_json":{"title":"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying? - VibeWire Magazine","description":"A KC-135 tanker is the oldest jet aircraft currently in Air Force service, an accolade it has held for over a decade.","canonical_url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326","robots":"max-image-preview:large","keywords":"","webmasterTools":{"google-site-verification":"1EIWGZ5FoylKQrO3pqls-2hXlDXKIP1lffdWZCVV0V4","miscellaneous":""},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326#blogposting","name":"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying? - VibeWire Magazine","headline":"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying?","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?author=13#author"},"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#organization"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-01-07-at-2.32.21\u202fpm.png","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#articleImage","width":1028,"height":930},"datePublished":"2025-02-24T16:00:15+10:00","dateModified":"2025-02-24T16:00:15+10:00","inLanguage":"en-AU","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326#webpage"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326#webpage"},"articleSection":"air tanker, aircraft, b-52, c-130, Military, United States, United States Air Force"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au#listItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396#listItem","name":"aircraft"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396#listItem","position":2,"name":"aircraft","item":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396","nextItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326#listItem","name":"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying?"},"previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au#listItem","name":"Home"}},{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326#listItem","position":3,"name":"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying?","previousItem":{"@type":"ListItem","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396#listItem","name":"aircraft"}}]},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#organization","name":"VibreWire Online","description":"Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-01-07-at-2.32.21\u202fpm.png","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326\/#organizationLogo","width":1028,"height":930},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326\/#organizationLogo"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/VibewireCentral"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?author=13#author","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?author=13","name":"Guest authors","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326#authorImage","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/764687183b9d2913837d7b543a5b43684d46e7eef4e1a9af4821624eb2bebbc0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","width":96,"height":96,"caption":"Guest authors"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326","name":"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying? - VibeWire Magazine","description":"A KC-135 tanker is the oldest jet aircraft currently in Air Force service, an accolade it has held for over a decade.","inLanguage":"en-AU","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#website"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326#breadcrumblist"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?author=13#author"},"creator":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?author=13#author"},"datePublished":"2025-02-24T16:00:15+10:00","dateModified":"2025-02-24T16:00:15+10:00"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/","name":"VibreWire Online","description":"Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything","inLanguage":"en-AU","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/#organization"}}]},"og:locale":"en_US","og:site_name":"VibeWire Magazine - Your Alternate News Source for Transport, Politics, UFO, Paranormal, Anything","og:type":"article","og:title":"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying? - VibeWire Magazine","og:description":"A KC-135 tanker is the oldest jet aircraft currently in Air Force service, an accolade it has held for over a decade.","og:url":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326","article:published_time":"2025-02-24T06:00:15+00:00","article:modified_time":"2025-02-24T06:00:15+00:00","twitter:card":"summary_large_image","twitter:site":"@VibewireCentral","twitter:title":"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying? - VibeWire Magazine","twitter:description":"A KC-135 tanker is the oldest jet aircraft currently in Air Force service, an accolade it has held for over a decade.","twitter:creator":"@VibewireCentral"},"aioseo_meta_data":{"post_id":"179326","title":null,"description":null,"keywords":null,"keyphrases":null,"primary_term":null,"canonical_url":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"og_object_type":"default","og_image_type":"default","og_image_url":null,"og_image_width":null,"og_image_height":null,"og_image_custom_url":null,"og_image_custom_fields":null,"og_video":null,"og_custom_url":null,"og_article_section":null,"og_article_tags":null,"twitter_use_og":false,"twitter_card":"default","twitter_image_type":"default","twitter_image_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_url":null,"twitter_image_custom_fields":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"schema":{"blockGraphs":[],"customGraphs":[],"default":{"data":{"Article":[],"Course":[],"Dataset":[],"FAQPage":[],"Movie":[],"Person":[],"Product":[],"ProductReview":[],"Car":[],"Recipe":[],"Service":[],"SoftwareApplication":[],"WebPage":[]},"graphName":"","isEnabled":true},"graphs":[]},"schema_type":"default","schema_type_options":null,"pillar_content":false,"robots_default":true,"robots_noindex":false,"robots_noarchive":false,"robots_nosnippet":false,"robots_nofollow":false,"robots_noimageindex":false,"robots_noodp":false,"robots_notranslate":false,"robots_max_snippet":null,"robots_max_videopreview":null,"robots_max_imagepreview":"large","priority":null,"frequency":null,"local_seo":null,"seo_analyzer_scan_date":"2025-09-07 22:14:05","breadcrumb_settings":null,"limit_modified_date":false,"open_ai":null,"ai":null,"created":"2025-09-07 22:14:05","updated":"2025-09-07 22:14:05"},"aioseo_breadcrumb":"<div class=\"aioseo-breadcrumbs\"><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\" title=\"Home\">Home<\/a>\n<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396\" title=\"aircraft\">aircraft<\/a>\n<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb-separator\">&raquo;<\/span><span class=\"aioseo-breadcrumb\">\n\tWhat Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying?\n<\/span><\/div>","aioseo_breadcrumb_json":[{"label":"Home","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au"},{"label":"aircraft","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?cat=396"},{"label":"What Is The Oldest US Military Aircraft Still Flying?","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=179326"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=179326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179327,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179326\/revisions\/179327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=179326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=179326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=179326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}