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In flight refueling photos...

The 135 boom operator gave me a bit of info while we were there. They truck the drogue around with them, it was strapped down in the aft section of the plane, but like was said, it has to be put on prior to flying. Then it just hangs off the plane, approximately 6 feet. It was a hard drogue, supposedly the KC-10's have soft drogues, said they were less dangerous. Also, 135's can't carry pods on the wings like KC-10's, according to them, only fuel from the aft section. And last but not least, I'm supposed to pass to my buddies that there is indeed, NO WAY to lock the boom, so quit asking:)
 
beach said:
Anyone know why the eagles appear to have two tacts pods?
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If you have the assets, carry two, in case one fails? I've only ever carried one, but it's possible you could carry two and select the one to use on your SMS.


I'm supposed to pass to my buddies that there is indeed, NO WAY to lock the boom, so quit asking:)
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I've never asked them to lock it, just don't "fly it" to help me tank.
 
I guess the bottom line of this thread is that when it comes to aerial refueling (much like the services in general), the Navy does the fvcking and the AF get's fvcked.:D
 
I'm curious here... Do all of the various branches of the service now use the same JP? Back in my day the AF used JP4 and the navy used JP5.

Steve
 
brownshoe said:
I'm curious here... Do all of the various branches of the service now use the same JP? Back in my day the AF used JP4 and the navy used JP5.
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The USAF uses JP-8 now. I know of no military units using JP-4 anymore. Most NAS/MCAS I've been have been use JP-8, but at least one (North Island) still gives JP-5. I don't know if it's being phased out, and they have the remaining stocks, or what. I thought going to JP-8 and its higher flash point was supposed to allow both services to have a common fuel.
 
huggyu2 said:
The USAF uses JP-8 now. I know of no military units using JP-4 anymore. Most NAS/MCAS I've been have been use JP-8, but at least one (North Island) still gives JP-5. I don't know if it's being phased out, and they have the remaining stocks, or what. I thought going to JP-8 and its higher flash point was supposed to allow both services to have a common fuel.
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Well... you can sure tell how long I've been out of the navy. :)

Steve

Christ I'm getting old:)
 
huggyu2 said:
The USAF uses JP-8 now. I know of no military units using JP-4 anymore. Most NAS/MCAS I've been have been use JP-8, but at least one (North Island) still gives JP-5. I don't know if it's being phased out, and they have the remaining stocks, or what. I thought going to JP-8 and its higher flash point was supposed to allow both services to have a common fuel.
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Are we talking land-based only? I was under the impression that JP-5 was still available if out to sea.
 
bogey_spotter said:
I've always wondered why the different services use different refueling systems?
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There is only one service that does it differently and that's the Air Force yet they all started out doing it via probe and drogue. It was SAC that needed to evolve to the boom because the B-47 and B-52 were found to be extremely hard to tank via probe and drogue and they needed higher transfer rates that the boom could provide. During the transition period, tankers like the KB-50 and KC-97 could provided probe and boom tanking (respectively) for USAF customers and the F-105 was equipped with a probe and and boom receptacle so it could tank from either one or the KC-135 that replaced it. Probe and drogue is by far the most widely used method worldwide.

120px-Republic_F-105D-6-RE_(SN_58-1762)_refueling_probe_detail_060901-F-1234S-006.jpg


F-105 could refuel using probe or boom

roy_blakeley_f104_large.jpg


The F-104 was last USAF fighter to use probe method

bogey_spotter said:
In case of emergency, it's silly to have a Navy A/C not able to take fuel from an AF tanker because it doesn't have a drogue. Any thoughts?
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Yes and no. We had an aircraft in extremis during Desert Storm get vectored to a USAF tanker and when they got there...lo and behold, it was a KC-135 equipped with boom only. We always tried to talk to tanker or confirm with AWACS that tanker had a basket. The KC-10 was first modern Air Force tanker that did it right with a boom and separate basket so it could handle USAF or USN/USMC/Allied/Coalition customers. Some KC-135s were modified with podded basket systems solving the problem. One would hope the replacement tanker would also follow suit.


day1_2.jpg


KC-10 using drogue for RAF Tornado and waiting F/A-18s (with boom retracted)

kc1355.jpg


KC-135 with wingtip drogue refueling pods in addition to boom
 
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