The Boeing E-6 Mercury is an airborne command post and communications relay based on the Boeing 707-300. The original E-6A manufactured by Boeing's defense division entered service with the United States Navy in July 1989, replacing the EC-130Q. This platform, now modified to the E-6B standard, conveys instructions from the National Command Authority to fleet ballistic missile submarines, a mission known as TACAMO.
Boeing E-6 Mercury
Navy E-6B Mercury at the Mojave Air and Space Port
Detail of the E-6's wingtip.
A U.S. Navy E-6B Mercury refuels from a USAF 434th Air Refueling Wing KC-135R Stratotanker (2011).
The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial 707-120 first flew on December 20, 1957.
Pan Am began regular 707 service on October 26, 1958.
With versions produced until 1979, the 707 was a swept wing quadjet with podded engines. Its larger fuselage cross-section allowed six-abreast economy seating, retained in the later 720, 727, 737, and 757 models.
Boeing 707
The 707 was based on the 367-80 "Dash 80"
The six-abreast cabin
Early 707-120 in Boeing livery. This aircraft, N709PA, would later crash in 1963 as Pan Am Flight 214.
