Air-to-Air Refueling Explained

[sangminlee48]

I wonder how long does it take to fill up the whole tanker in KC-135...

[Iwaaaaaaaaaan]

I'm trying to be a boom operator in the air force, a friend of my mom's actually told me he can get me into basic training REAL quick if thats what I'm interested in. Problem is, I had a spontaneous lung collapse 4 years ago (not disqualifying), and I was told to never scuba dive OR Skydive ever. Fast forward to the present, and I workout REAL hard 4+ times a week, I'm super into cross training, high intensity cardio, weight training, etc.......do Booms have to jump out of planes?

[dereklsept]

@Iwaaaaaaaaaan getting into basic quick is based of a few things like your asvab score...but to answer your question...no booms don't get trained to jump...but a collapsed lung may very well be disqualifying from flight...i don't know the full rules on that since I'm not a flight doc tho

[Iwaaaaaaaaaan]

@dereklsept normal air force rules (for disqualification) are if a person has had a lung collapse (from spontaneous origin), it needs to have been 3 years or more since the incident, and it could have only been one and one ONLY incident. So I'm good to go......now I just need documentation on a single stitch from when I was 16 months old....in florida.....when I now live in virginia. MEPs doctors are such a huge pain in the ass.......

[dereklsept]

@Iwaaaaaaaaaan being accepted into the air force doesn't necessarily qualify you for flying duty...like i said, i don't know the full rules though

[Iwaaaaaaaaaan]

@dereklsept Yea, believe me, I'm prepared for the absolute worst case scenario. The sqaudron of booms near my house seem to think I'll get in just fine...I'll find out soon enough.

[dereklsept]

@Iwaaaaaaaaaan good luck to ya then

[cobra71000]

f15 consume ONLY 4 and half litres every kilometer ???? is he been serious ??? 2 huge engines takes way more than that

[dereklsept]

@cobra71000 nope....that's about right...you forget...cruising they travel about 16 kilometers a minute...soo thats about 64 liters a minute....which is about 8 gallons a minute...thats a lot of gas to burn in 60 seconds

[stuntmanmike37]

@joeandpaige Agreed. It's funny to listen to the things pilots say when they give tours.

[kathen111]

AIRPLANE SEX! whaahahahaha

[arcarulez]

Technological marvels, those aircrafts.

[phillybluntsj]

okay i dont understand, why would they just use lead instead of fuel to put in the wings? if they empty the fuel from the wings they would break off, so that fuel just sits there forever?

[kathen111]

i think they would use the fuel in the body then move on to the wings :D

[stuntmanmike37]

@phillybluntsj That information isn't completley accurate. That's what happens when pilots try to answer technical questions. No, the wing tanks typically feed the engines. They never go bone dry but they do empty out quite a bit when the plane flys.

[dereklsept]

@phillybluntsj the wing fuel strengthens the wings kind of like a coke can full of soda vs being empty...so we burn the fuel in the body first, until the plane is lighter to start using the wing tanks cause if we empty the wings first with over 100k (lbs) in fuel in the body still...then the wings lose their strength to support the heavy aircraft....make sense?

[dougcassidy]

if the fuel is stored in the wings, basically for balast...well then you can never use that fuel, right? Or as they say, if there's no weight in the wings, they would fly up and snap off.

[stuntmanmike37]

@dougcassidy That was the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. That's what happens when pilots try to justify their paychecks by sounding smart. Actually, the wing tanks primarily feed the engines in flight.

[dereklsept]

@stuntmanmike37 not on the tanker...we run off our body tanks first normally...unless we're scheduled a heavy offload quickly...i doubt you know the system very well so its makes you look like a bit of an idiot to comment on what you don't know about

[stuntmanmike37]

@dereklsept You don't think I know the system very well? I'm a 2A551L if you know what that means.  You don't have to get so defensive there. You're probably one of those jerks that lands with a 45k and the 1 and 4 reserve tanks are bone dry.

[dereklsept]

@stuntmanmike37 lol nope, we leave the reserves full unless we're hitting 20k...1A051 myself...and trust me good ones know the fuel burn sequence as Mr boeing suggests it...which is body tanks first...then wing tanks...and thats why theres a 195k zero wing fuel weight limit to the jet...might wanna learn some more

[stuntmanmike37]

@dereklsept Yeah well, it's general knowledge that you wouldn't fly with full body tanks and empty wing tanks. But the pilot gives a typically convoluted answer when he says "because of physics." That's like saying, "the fuel is carried in the wings in the name of science!" Like, what the fuck? Just give the interviewer a straight forward honest answer. Don't try to sound fancy because you come off sounding like a jackass.

[dereklsept]

@stuntmanmike37 the guy you're calling a jackass is a major, and an instructor pilot now...not to mention his answer was pretty straight forward...it IS because of physics that ALL planes carry the fuel in their wings...including passenger jets...once again...it makes you look not quite as intelligent

[stuntmanmike37]

@dereklsept This has gone way more in depth than it needed to be. I'm sure you're IP there is a fine pilot. I just get buggered when uninformed people take pilot's words on maintenance as gospel. The narrator made a really big deal about. That's what really made it sound dumb. 

[dereklsept]

@stuntmanmike37 problem is...it wasn't about maintenance at all...it was about general physics of flight and how a plane works at a basic level...who else better to ask than a pilot

[stuntmanmike37]

@dereklsept  I guess you were never enlisted, huh?

[dereklsept]

@stuntmanmike37 way off base with that guess....im a boom...so yeah I'm enlisted...guess you didn't know that's what a 1A0 is...next time just say you're a crew chief instead of throwing out and AFSC

[stuntmanmike37]

@dereklsept Whatever, I only need to know my own AFSC. And yes, crew chief and proud of it. And I can tell you are WAY too ate up. Lay off that active duty cool-aid. Peace.

[stuntmanmike37]

@dereklsept P.S., please don't ask us if the APU has been pre-flighted. It's on your checklist.

[dereklsept]

@stuntmanmike37....I know this...i haven't asked a crew chief that since altus when they had civilian ones that actually gave a shit....and your preflights don't include what we check....just make sure it has oil in it...thats not in my checklist :)

[stuntmanmike37]

@dereklsept  That I can do.

[uz1paz]

incredible....

[jeric6994]

thats so fuckin tight

[Mrjaguarpaw1]

Coool

[RISINGTENSION]

holy shit that was fast :)

[rebelbloodfeel]

ohohoh...........america requires huge amount of oil...for its air craft!!

[pitbull23d]

thumbs up for airplane sex lol

[bestamerica]

'

i like american F-15E is the best top jetfighter than ussr russia cheap toy jetfighter

[XxAssassiNxX089]

@bestamerica its not really the jet that kill other jets. its the pilots.

[ThalGengHan]

MY KC-135 IS RUNNING OUTTA FUEL!! what...?

[allamericandude15]

Hey, Mildenhall! I used to live there.

[roflpwnize]

AIR SEX!!!!!!!!!!!!

[6020e3]

@roflpwnize hahaha you have a pervert mind :)) . never thaught of it before you said it. LOL

[DonLduk]

Nice video ! but I don't like how they empathize so much on the speed they are traveling, where all that matters is RELATIVE SPEED .

[6020e3]

@indycardino haha

[boomoperator89]

lmao pilots train everyday my ass!!!!!!

[starscreamthe7th]

I'm a F-16 pilot so I know how hard this can be.

[oisiaa]

Excellent explanation! Probably the best introduction to AR that someone could watch (why are the British so good at making informative shows?)

[abercrombieToronto]

so if we lose the wings, we lose both engines and fuel. shittttttttttttttttttttttttttt­tt' i am not flyin without a third wing just in case'

[whitewingsrich]

I've done the air to air refueling on MS flight sim, and it is just so hard to keep the herc steaddy behind the VC-10. I take my hat of to these guys. It takes great skill and instant responses to recieve fuel from the tankers. Great Video

[yyasir3]

@whitewingsrich great work

[devilm116]

tryed to do this on a flight with a f-4 i really just couldnt come close, these guys have some talent

[Shahzad03]

Great video, awsome!

[xXxreallydontcarexXx]

a matter of seconds o.o

[DaAfterburner]

Well, actually, why is the fuel stored in the wings of a normal passenger jet?

Same reason, as explained in the video ?

[izanti]

For commercial aircraft its a mix of that reason and that its the best place to store fuel cause you cant exactly get passengers or cargo in the wings. But many jet aircraft do have central fuel tanks in the belly of the plane to store extra fuel for long haul ops but its not nearly as much as the wings. Some smaller GA aircraft like the DA-20 has only a fuel cell behind the pilots inside the aircraft.

[crouchfan01]

wow.... this is truly amazing!

[RoswellGearbox]

True challenge!

[Ballerfella2007]

That was too cool....great video 2 thumbs up.

[kitiboy]

amazing!

[deltanator]

wow nice :D

[timothyngim]

".....They get less technical, and look out for each other out the window" Very good...

[azntranc3951]

cool. thanks for the upload

"Gas Guzzlers" haha

[998wwe998]

cool!amazing

[amitalegaonkar]

triwood1973 does it again! good job!

[NarutoMustDie12345]

wow