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Air Force to receive 100th Tunner loader

Released: 10 Feb 2000


Air Force News Photo
The Air Force will receive its 100th Tunner loader during a ceremony Feb. 24 in West Plains, Mo. Systems & Electronics, Inc., the manufacturer of the loader, will host the ceremony at their factory. The 60,000-pound loader is named in honor of former Lt. Gen. William H. Tunner who directed the massive airlift of supplies into Soviet-blocked Berlin during the 1940s. (Air Force photo)


SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFPN) -- The Air Force will receive its 100th Tunner loader during a ceremony Feb. 24 in West Plains, Mo. Systems & Electronics, Inc., the manufacturer of the loader, will host the ceremony at their factory.

The 60,000-pound loader is named in honor of former Lt. Gen. William H. Tunner who directed the massive airlift of supplies into Soviet-blocked Berlin during the 1940s. General Tunner retired in 1960 as the Military Air Transport Service commander.

The Air Force is slated to receive a total of 318 Tunners, four per month, with the final deliveries in 2004. The 100th Tunner is scheduled for delivery to the 439th Airlift Wing at Westover Air Reserve Base, Mass.

The Tunner replaces the 1960's era 40,000-pound transporter/loader and the 1970's era wide-body elevator loader. The Tunner offers superior technology and capability, allowing for more rapid movement of equipment and cargo on to all military and commercial cargo aircraft. (Courtesy of Air Mobility Command News Service)

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