Navy Chief
Senior Member
Here are some comments that Fred Sanders sent me from his fellow pilot buddies about inflight refueling (after watching this video). I had to tone down some of the language to post them. They can be quite "colorful"!:
[YOUTUBE]N-RcBAZ5bx4&feature[/YOUTUBE]
The A-7 was easy -- just cross control the cr.p out of it so it was going straight again. NEVER look at the probe/basket intersect. Just fly your cross-controlled A-7 to a point below the A-7 tanker, letting the bow wave shove the basket into the path of my probe.
Put the basket between the center wind screen and the probe, add power, drive the plane up/fwd until the "THUNK!" Piece of cake -- just don't think it through, or you'll psyche yourself into chasing it.
Never did the KC-135/KC-10: Doesn't look stable at all...
S-3's scared me when I was the duty tanker. It's a BIG plane right behind me! Poor guy's right engine was sucking exhaust from my engine if he got just a bit high. Fortunately for them, it was just practice -of lipping the basket repeatedly was tiring, as the autopilot couldn't take the jolt of the receiving plane hitting the basket. So I had to smoothly hand fly during their attempts.
Le Goof
I always hated it -re-fueling in the middle of the ocean. First, I was at sea and low on gas and there is NO PLACE to land but that blasted boat. Second, the refueling probe on the A-7 was 7 feet to my right. What a dumb design. It was hard in daylight. At night, your b...ls crawled up inside your belly from fright. The rest of that appendage was nowhere to be found.
You either plug the tanker or you eject over the ocean in the middle of the night. Thanks for the swell choices. I'll say one thing for it - it sure taught you quickly how to concentrate on a task.
I broke off the refueling probe off an A-4 one day trying to plug the tanker. Another dumb-a.. design by imbeciles who've never flown a plane. Not a career-enhancing move, and I do not recommend it.
But, the worn out old A-4's are now the front line Air Forces of our S. American "allies" now, so you boys and girls go out there who support the drug trade and plug at night, do it all you want. Break those probes off: Punch out, check out, flame out. Adios. F.
Great flick. Funny, I always thought that the KC-10 was by far the easiest tanker to plug. Did not care for the KC-135 due to the short hose. Absolutely hated the A-3 at night with lights out.
When in a bind, the KC-130's our Marines flew, were always there when needed. In the F-8 and F-4 we had to ask them to "toboggan" (would increase their airspeed by heading downhill) to help us from falling out of the sky as our fuel load increased.
Refueling A-4 from A-4 buddy store was a challenge at low level. Same for the A-6 except a steadier platform. Never refueled from an A-7.
s/f, beaver
[YOUTUBE]N-RcBAZ5bx4&feature[/YOUTUBE]
The A-7 was easy -- just cross control the cr.p out of it so it was going straight again. NEVER look at the probe/basket intersect. Just fly your cross-controlled A-7 to a point below the A-7 tanker, letting the bow wave shove the basket into the path of my probe.
Put the basket between the center wind screen and the probe, add power, drive the plane up/fwd until the "THUNK!" Piece of cake -- just don't think it through, or you'll psyche yourself into chasing it.
Never did the KC-135/KC-10: Doesn't look stable at all...
S-3's scared me when I was the duty tanker. It's a BIG plane right behind me! Poor guy's right engine was sucking exhaust from my engine if he got just a bit high. Fortunately for them, it was just practice -of lipping the basket repeatedly was tiring, as the autopilot couldn't take the jolt of the receiving plane hitting the basket. So I had to smoothly hand fly during their attempts.
Le Goof
I always hated it -re-fueling in the middle of the ocean. First, I was at sea and low on gas and there is NO PLACE to land but that blasted boat. Second, the refueling probe on the A-7 was 7 feet to my right. What a dumb design. It was hard in daylight. At night, your b...ls crawled up inside your belly from fright. The rest of that appendage was nowhere to be found.
You either plug the tanker or you eject over the ocean in the middle of the night. Thanks for the swell choices. I'll say one thing for it - it sure taught you quickly how to concentrate on a task.
I broke off the refueling probe off an A-4 one day trying to plug the tanker. Another dumb-a.. design by imbeciles who've never flown a plane. Not a career-enhancing move, and I do not recommend it.
But, the worn out old A-4's are now the front line Air Forces of our S. American "allies" now, so you boys and girls go out there who support the drug trade and plug at night, do it all you want. Break those probes off: Punch out, check out, flame out. Adios. F.
Great flick. Funny, I always thought that the KC-10 was by far the easiest tanker to plug. Did not care for the KC-135 due to the short hose. Absolutely hated the A-3 at night with lights out.
When in a bind, the KC-130's our Marines flew, were always there when needed. In the F-8 and F-4 we had to ask them to "toboggan" (would increase their airspeed by heading downhill) to help us from falling out of the sky as our fuel load increased.
Refueling A-4 from A-4 buddy store was a challenge at low level. Same for the A-6 except a steadier platform. Never refueled from an A-7.
s/f, beaver