The Koninklijke Luchtmacht's (Royal Netherlands Air Force, RNLAF's) sole remaining McDonnell Douglas KDC-10 tanker - serial T-235 - departed Eindhoven Air Base in the Netherlands for the US on October 25, as it heads to its new civil-based owner on the other side of the Atlantic.
In an exclusive interview, Col Jorrit de Gruijter, commander of the RNLAF's Air Mobility Command, told Key.Aero: “Today we said goodbye to our grand lady, the KDC-10. Since 1995 she has provided us all with memories. Going on a mission, bringing us safely home to our loved ones, providing much needed humanitarian relief on short notice. The KDC-10 has never failed us. Now she moves on to her third life. We wish the aircraft all the best. I would like to thank everyone who has been involved with maintaining and operating the KDC-10, we are now witness to the end of an era”.
