For nearly 30 years, the Looking Glass Bowing EC-135 was in the air 24 hours a day “preserving the Peace” during the Cold War.
The plane has been at the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum near Ashland for many years. It took six years and over 32,000 volunteer hours but the exterior and interior of the plane has been restored. They will provide a rare opportunity for guests to tour the inside of the aircraft on Saturday, April 9th from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Museum Deputy Director John Lefler Jr. tells KLIN News, “The Looking Glass was staffed 24 hours a day and it was a basically a guarantee defense for the United States in case any of the ground defenses were lost in the event of a nuclear war we would be in the sky. In light of everything that is going on now, the EC-135 Looking Glass program was a message to the Soviet Union that no matter what, we would be on the ready.”
The plane had the ability to “mirror” a full command post and had the same control functions that were in the underground command post at the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command headquarters located at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue.
According to the museum, the Air Force accepted aircraft S/N 63-8049 on October 24, 1964 with unit assignments, including:
October 24, 1964- To 499 Air Refueling Wing (SAC), Westover AFB, Massachusetts
September 18, 1966- To Offutt AFB, Nebraska
May 23, 1967- To 2nd Bomb Wing (SAC), Barksdale, Louisiana
October 1, 1967- To 499 Air Refueling Wing (SAC), Westover AFB, Massachusetts
January 29, 1970- To 55 Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (SAC), Offutt AFB, Nebraska
June 8, 1973- To 28th Bomb Wing (SAC), Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota
January 4, 1974- To 55 Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (SAC), Offutt AFB, Nebraska
July 1, 1981- To 28th Bomb Wing (SAC), Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota
November 25, 1981- To 55 Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (SAC), Offutt AFB, Nebraska
March 2, 1993- Dropped from inventory by transfer to the Strategic Air & Space Museum.
Visitors can learn more about the EC-135’s mission and the critical role it played in the Strategic Air Command Fleet at the museum. Again, the grand public unveiling is Saturday, April 9th from noon until 4 p.m.