A US Navy Boeing E-6 Mercury "Doomsday Plane" seen flying and putting it's landing gear down from Shepherdstown, West Virginia.
From Wiki: "The Boeing E-6 Mercury (formerly E-6 Hermes) is an airborne command post and communications relay based on the Boeing 707. 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 (see communication with submarines), a mission known as TACAMO ("Take Charge And Move Out"). The E-6B model deployed in October 1998 also has the ability to remotely control Minuteman ICBMs using the Airborne Launch Control System. The E-6B replaced Air Force EC-135Cs in the "Looking Glass" role, providing command and control of U.S. nuclear forces should ground-based control become inoperable. With production lasting until 1991, the E-6 was the final new derivative of the Boeing 707 to be built.
"Like the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, the E-6 is adapted from Boeing's 707-320 airliner. Rolled out at Boeing's Renton Factory on 18 December 1986, the first E-6 made its maiden flight on 19 February 1987, when it was flown to nearby Boeing Field in south Seattle for fitting of mission avionics; it was delivered to the Navy for testing on 22 July 1988.
The E-6A, which was initially named Hermes, entered service with VQ-3 on 3 August 1989, with the second squadron, VQ-4 receiving its first E-6As in January 1991, allowing the EC-130Q to be phased out in June that year. The E-6A was renamed Mercury in autumn 1991 by request of the Navy; sixteen were delivered from 1988 to 1992.
The E-6B is an upgrade of the E-6A. It includes a battle staff area and updated mission equipment. The flight deck systems were later replaced with an off-the-shelf 737 Next Generation cockpit. This greatly increases the situational awareness of the pilot and saves significant cost over the previous custom avionics package. The first E-6B was accepted in December 1997. All 16 E-6A aircraft were modified to the E-6B standard, with the final delivery taking place on 1 December 2006.
The E-6 cannot use the probe-and-drogue in-flight refueling method that most other US Navy aircraft use, instead featuring a flying boom receptacle on the upper-forward fuselage, making it, like the USN's Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft, reliant on U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker, KC-10 Extender and KC-46 Pegasus aircraft for in-flight refueling.
General characteristics-
Crew: 22
Length: 152 ft 11 in (46.61 m)
Wingspan: 148 ft 2 in (45.16 m)
Height: 42 ft 5 in (12.93 m)
Wing area: 283.4 sq ft (26.33 m2)
Empty weight: 172,795 lb (78,378 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 342,000 lb (155,129 kg)
Powerplant: 4 × CFM International CFM56-2A-2 turbofan engines
Performance-
Maximum speed: 530 kn (610 mph, 980 km/h) dash speed
Cruise speed: 455 kn (524 mph, 843 km/h) at 40,000 ft (12,192 m)
Range: 6,600 nmi (7,600 mi, 12,200 km)
Combat range: 6,350 nmi (7,310 mi, 11,760 km)
Endurance: 10 hours 30 minutes on station at 1,000 nmi (1,200 mi; 1,900 km) unrefuelled
28 hours 54 minutes with one refuelling
72 hours maximum with multiple refuellings
Service ceiling: 40,000 ft (12,000 m)
Wing loading: 112.13 lb/sq ft (547.5 kg/m2)
Thrust/weight: 0.281
Critical field length: 6,700 ft (2,042 m)
Max effort Take-off run: 5,400 ft (1,646 m)
Landing run at max landing weight: 2,600 ft (792 m)
Avionics-
AN/ARC-182 VHF/UHF TxRx
AN/ARC-190 HF
AN/AIC-32 Crew Intercom
triplex Litton LTN-90
LTN-211 VLF/Omega
Smiths SFM 02 digital/analog flight management system
AN/APS-133 color weather radar."
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