This ground photograph depicts a Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter, a piston-engine transport and aerial-refueling tanker flown by the United States Air Force from the early 1950s into the mid-1970s. Developed from the wartime C-97/B-29 lineage, the KC-97's distinctive 'double-bubble' fuselage and four powerful Wasp Major radial engines made it the backbone of Strategic Air Command's tanker fleet before the arrival of the jet-powered KC-135. Visible tail number 22762 and the boom-operator fairing beneath the rear fuselage identify this example as a tanker variant, tasked with extending the range of Cold War-era bombers such as the B-47 Stratojet. Project: 218218