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The Great, Constantly Changing Picture Gallery...part DEUX
- Thread starter Gatordev
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Thanks for including the diagram. I had no idea that the buddy store was a combination IFR pod/fuel tank. A lot of people think the IFR pod on the Herk doubles as a fuel tank but it is exclusively just an IFR pod. Between the reel holding 85 feet of hose and the associated hydraulic/fuel plumbing, there is no room leftover for fuel. Not that it matters since our externals hold nearly 9000lbs each!
No not my lady.......but I will say that the wife really loves the avatar /Sarcasm
That USN tanker is no Boeing product... I have to say though, Convair made some real Buck Rodgers looking shit.
Crazy...I had never heard of the refueling convair. Interesting stuff. I still think it is amusing that our armed forces can't agree on one refueling method but at the same time can understand why. It seems like boom refueling is kind of impractical from a navy standpoint since we can't refuel that way around the boat. I cannot imagine, however, trying to maneuver a probe on a 707 type aircraft into a basket. Our "fly by cable" controls are heavy and there is a lot of lag. I would love to try it though.
I'd have guessed DC-8, but I guess those are longer and have a different nose-piece/grill.
That might actually be advantageous. I stab like an inmate, and while it gets in there, 70% of the time it looks ugly and spastic. Not having the control authority/response to do this might have the end result of being smoother. Who knows though
That is correct. The Navy had owned one UC-880 testbed/air refuelling tanker. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_880#Military_operators
The Skyhawk's D-904 AR Pod (Buddy Store) is also a 300 gl. fuel tank; however, is never used for that except when airborne with 3 full external tanks and no fuel delivered.
For extra-long rang flights, a 400 gl. "slick" tank would replace the AR Pod on the centerline station (same weight - less drag = more range).
BzB
It was a UC-880, owned by the Pax River guys, not only outfitted as a tanker, but as an airborne command post, so-to-speak. I tanked off of it once when the guys from Pax were testing the early versions of the sub-launched cruise missiles. We (VC-12) provided a couple of chase TA-4's with photographers in back that ran around in circles along with an A-6 and an F-4 out of Pax that had over-ride control capability, circling a buoy off the Gulf Coast of Florida, waiting for the submerged sub to launch the missile. After it launched, we latched on and chased it while it flew its low level route through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida and then parachuted to a soft landing at the Eglin Ranges. We actually launched early in the TA-4's, flew the low-level route as a wx recce, tanked off the UC-880 which was also operating as the airborne command post, then joined up with the A-6 and F-4 at 500' orbiting the buoy-marked launch position. Once the missile launched, whoever first spotted it had the lead chasing it, because it was really hard to see. Everyone else joined up and then the A-6 and F-4 took a position on each wing and the TA-4's just flew around with the photographers snapping pictures. It was a lot of fun. We were briefed that there were rumors that Greenpeace had found out about the proposed launch and route and had plans to try to capture the missile with nets and helium balloons. Seemed pretty far fetched to us but we were to be on the lookout for suspicious activity while flying the wx recce. That gave us a license to steal, making super low passes over Winnebagos on I-10.
Sounds awesome! Thanks for the good story....form with a cruise missile sounds fun.
exNavyOffRec
Well-Known Member
Any interesting stories from these trips?
Are you kidding? Of course!!!!!! The ferry flight took over a month to complete, and we were on State Department Per Diem, which was over 3-times Navy Per Diem rates. Spent it all, and then some!
Unfortunately the stories ( and they are absolutely unbelievable memories ) are not for publication.... not here or anywhere... even via PM. Leave it to your imagination. Then add some. We 6 dudes were rock stars at Gumman, in the Hamptons, in Torremolinos, even in Iran, in Rome, and all places in between! Suffice it to say we saw, did, and experienced a whole lot of incredible shit! Oh yeah!
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