ls1ssws6

ok ever since i was little you see these fighter jets up in the air refueling from big ol cargo planes....now how the heck do they do it? im assuming its just like a huge magnet that attaches the planes cause i dont think anyone could be THAT accurate to steady both planes like that...and can i have the basic version not the in dept what the hell are you talking about version? hahha thanks guys

405dave

I have 3500 hours in a KC-10 Extender so I'll educate you a little. Yes, they are that accurate. The tanker drives around in a tanker orbit (just an oval track in the sky) at a set speed. The altitude and speed are set for the aircraft you are refueling. The recieving aircraft flies into contact position and holds there. The boom operator then flies the refueling boom into the trailing aircraft's receptical. On the KC-10 the flight engineer turns on the fuel pumps and tries to maintain C.G. (center gravity) on the tanker. I always thought night time bad weather refuels were the most interesting. LOL A real no kidding pucker factor 10. HAHAHA This is the simple version.

ls1ssws6

thats cool thanks for the info...i definetly have a lot more respect for those guys, it must be one hell of a stressful job, knowing if you dont have it perfect theres gonna be hundreds of gallons of gas falling to earth hahah though i assume they usually do it over water?

405dave

No, its done over land as much as water. And as far as hundreds of gallons, the KC-10's max fuel was like 335 thousand pounds of fuel. Jet fuel is around 6.7 pounds per gallon. Yep, many hundreds.

ls1ssws6

holy crap respect level went up about 10 notches

02SSofdeath

Dont foget when we just have to dump gas cause were having issues

aggiez28

iTrader: (19)

why would you respect them more once you find out a plane can hold a lot more fuel?

405dave

If you like big numbers the max takeoff gross weight was 590,000 pounds. You should see how much runway is used up taking off max gross and 125 degrees in the desert. It seems like the lsat brick. LOL

red2003cobra

C-17 Instructor Pilot here with over 4200 total hours. 405dave put it nicely. I haven't seen too much KC-10 boom time, but have many many plugs with KC-135's. Air Refueling (AR) is quite stressful and I'm usually sweating pretty bad from the stress. The most stressful for me though is instructing new guys on air refueling. AR for heavy aircraft gets really interesting since we have so much bow wave and momentum. Best way to describe AR is it's like driving your car 12 inches off the bumper of the car in front of you on an icy road at 70mph with no brakes.

Lance

ls1ssws6

i meant because it is done over land as well....i mean honestly, think of the pressure, your refueling a plane over the heads of people and if you mess up an inch those people will get showered with jet fuel...maybe its just me but i respect the professionalism of that sorry

ls1ssws6

see above post

ls1ssws6

Vee 6

Or try air refueling a helo. No boom operators involved, just pilot skill. It's definitely not the easiest thing to do trying to stick a probe in a basket of a C130 tanker. If you've ever seen that video of the Marine CH-53E chopping off the probe tip trying to AR you'll know what I mean. That would suck!

405dave

Yep, I did alot of probe refuels. Kc-10's can "switch hit" at any time. I have been fueling AF fighters with Navy fighters waiting in que for there turn. There was alot of work and checklist to run quickly to pull up the boom and then deploy the probe. And yes there are bets made on who would have the most misses. The bet winner drank free. Bored tanker crews can be dangerous. LOL

red2003cobra

We're at 585,000 max take off, but runway length is normally not an issue for us.

red2003cobra

You dump at higher altitudes which disapates the fuel. I've never done it myself since fuel dumps for C-17s is almost unheard of. It would take a major emergency for us to dump fuel. The tanker guys do it a lot more for landing reasons.

Compstall

iTrader: (5)

Good to see mention of this guy. I teach the In-Flight Refueling Pod class for the C-130's. Yep, ain't got no one flying the hose/drogue back there. And, yes I do have the vid of the 53 choppin' off his probe trying to chase the drogue around and show it regularly in my classes.

405dave

Red2003cobra I have worked with the C-17's alot because I was at Mcguire and they were in Charleston. I have watched you guys takeoff maxed out many times and I was suprised how little runway they used. A great example of high mount straight wing compared to a low mount high sweep wing. Once in the air we could out run about anyone but we needed speed to get lift and that takes alot of runway. A interesting fact for you. A KC-10 pilot can not see his/her wingtip from the pilot seat. That is a swept wing. I do have a question for you. Is it true you have a switch for refueling to slow down the response of the fly by wire control stick to make refueling easier?

MrDude_1

iTrader: (4)

the fuel vaporizes and spreads out over a large area... so theres no "jet fuel rain" on the people below... unless you're at a stupidly low level. lol.

jasonk

iTrader: (29)

They also (based on non-emergency situations) have fuel dump locations that they prefer us to use. Obviously not always a viable situation, but for certain airframes that have to "adjust gross weight" for landing, they have spots designated