Back in the early 70s I have seen -80 three mornings in a row there at Eielson AFB, just eight miles up the road. We are expecting -35 to -40 for the next week. Most winters we see at least one week of real cold weather. -50 to -60 has not happened for quite a few years now, and I can deffinately do without that mush cold. A few years back, (2 or 3) I got stuck out and had to spend the night out on the Wood River. It got to -35 that night. I made a nest and went to bed, slept good and was nice and warm. Then came morning, and I had to get up. Now that's cold, crawling out of a nice and warm sleeping bag in nothing but your thermals and wool socks. Your insulated Carharts are stiff as a board. Gosh those Bunny Boots were cold, but in 10 minutes they were warm.
Magooch: I spent most of my AF career at Eielson AFB. Back in the early 70s, no planes were stationed there. Hunting and Fishing, was the Mission. We had a SAC wing that brought up RCs and KC-135s on rotation from California. Then in the mid 70s they brought in planes (A-10s) and Eielson became a real AFB. The RCs were KC-135s that had been modified, with a big snoopy dog style front end. They were so loaded with electronics gear they had to take off almost empty of fuel. A KC-135 Tanker would take off two hours ahead of them. Then two tankers would take off with them. One would refuel him and come back down. That tanker would refuel then an hour later take off to meet him on his way back in. It took four tankers to support the RCs mission. Eielson had a major building spurt during the 80s and 90s. Lots of new hangers and buildings built. A-10s were the planes stationed there from the mid 70s, all the rest were just transient planes. Then in 2006 the Air Force removed the A-10s, and all the others. All that is left is a small training group of F-16s, that only fly during major excercises during the summer, and a Guard unit flying Tankers. Eielson is pretty much as it was when I got here back in 1971. Down to just a caretaker crew during the winter. Eielson is the only AFB that has it's own direct fuel line from the refinery to the base. A small refinery here in North Pole (one of two) takes the oil directly from the Alaska Oil Pipeline, refines out the jet fuel, then has the capability to send it directly to Eielson AFB via a pipeline. With Eielson not needing fuel, the refinery sends it's fuel to Fairbanks and Anchorage airports.
That Black hanger you referred to was the Alert Cells, all fenced in except for an access to the flight line. I've seen F-102s, F-4s, F-15s, F-16s, and various other fast intercept aircraft housed there. I hated going there, had to go through so much security checks just to get through the fence. Then once inside you had to put up with some of the snottiest pilots I ever met. Only fight I had during my career, I told a smartXXX Capt to kiss my XXX one morning. He took a swing at me and clipped my shoulder. A Chief grabbed the Capt, and a MSgt grabbed me seperating us. Since the Capt had actually hit me, the Chief convinced the Capt it was in his best interest to forget it ever happened. Then he chewed my XXX for being stupid in the first place. I was banned from the Alert Cells for a year over that. Broke my heart.
