U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets Refuel

Video of U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets refueling from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker over Southwest Asia. The KC-135 is from the 927th Air Refueling Wing. The 927th ARW is an Air Force Reserve Command unit based at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

Attribution: Courtesy U.S Navy, source "U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets Refuel With U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker", Creative Commons CC BY license, URL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lJEqR.... U.S. Navy video by Sgt. Stacia Zachary/Released.

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  Film & Animation

[southwestman84]

aka he's been having some fun

[Michaelc136]

oh dear, hes missing a missile on his left wing, someones been shooting

[suthobay]

White, this stuff is da bomb! It's da bomb!

[OldFlyerMan]

The "DonkeyDick" attachment on the boom IS the standard setup on a KC-135. Navy tankers and the KC-10 have a different system with "Response" which automatically retracts a portion of the hose to accommodate the closure speed during the plug-in. With the KC-135 boom the receiver pilot has to be much more precise with speed of closure. The spray you see coming during disengagement is fuel that escapes during disconnect. It is more noticeable with the Donkey Dick than with a response refueler.

[joeyl55]

They use water lmao, oh and they never sump the fuel tank before flights either

[psslonaker]

You are absolutely correct sir.

[Michael WC]

It looks like the boom refuel has been retrofitted for drogue and probe setup. Normally would see the drogues deployed from the wing for the probes. But this one does not seem to be a standard setup.

[MrDgarvey]

Badass!

[fpatkelly]

Who would even entertain the idea of putting water in a line used to transfer aviation fuel? It is probably that the valve that shuts off the flow is at the top end of the boom, close to the KC-135. So the entire boom and hose is pressurized even after the valve is closed. When the Hornet breaks contact, some of the pressurized fuel remaining in the line blows out before the valve in the basket end can slam shut. IMHO only.

[beergut111]

no