Is this a KC-135?

[james84]

Hello all,
today the weather was great so I spent some time spotting with my 55-250 lens.
I have seen 4 contrails from an aircraft flying eastbound over Rome and tried to take some pics of what looks like a KC-135 (check the black nose)




At the beginning I thought it could be an A340, but I checked on Flightradar24 if it was trackable and it wasn't.
Any idea?
BTW, here are today's best shots of the only two aircrafts I managed to spot while landing at Rome-CIA (cropped)

[LEBTowerGuy]

It almost looks like a 747, but its hard to tell through the grain. If you could sharpen up the grain, and adjust the contrast it might be easier to tell.

[james84]

Is this better? Sorry, I'm not very good at editing!

[LEBTowerGuy]

A little bit, it still looks more like a 747, if you want to PM the original I may be able to clean it up for you.

[LEBTowerGuy]

After playing with the pictures in photoshop I think you may be right, it does look a bit like a KC-135, after sharpening the middle photo, the tail boom appears slightly visible.

[james84]

A little bit, it still looks more like a 747, if you want to PM the original I may be able to clean it up for you.

Wanna try?
It was too far to get a good photo...
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VMJC260K

[bassiejj1994]

On what time did you see it? SBS-1 shows more than one KC-135 around rome today.

[LEBTowerGuy]

I think you are definitely right, it is a KC-135, the tail boom is much more visible now, and even the beginnings of a tail splash.

[james84]

Thanks!
BTW, how did you edit the photo?

[james84]

On what time did you see it? SBS-1 shows more than one KC-135 around rome today.

Late afternoon, around 6-7pm... don't remember the exact time though, I didn't copy the photos on the HD, they are still on the memory card!
Anyway, I posted the same message and photo on an Italian site and somebody involved in the military said it might also be an RC-135, and he said there was actually one buzzing over Rome last Sunday!

[james84]

Confirmed, it is a KC.
The guy I told you before said it could be this very aircraft, a Mildenhall-based one
http://www.airliners.net/photo/USA---Ai ... 1569922/L/

An RC-135 was in the area too.

[LEBTowerGuy]

james,
I used photoshop to adjust the contrast, colors, and sharpness of the image to get the final product.

[james84]

Thanks, I got to learn how to use this!

[btaylo24]

looks like an rc-135....

[Kurosaki]

I vote 135.