F15 Mid-Air Refueling by KC-135 Washington Air National Guard - Vid 1

The Washington Air National Guard (ANG) invited me to a VIP Orientation Flight on a KC-135 to watch the mid-air refueling of 10 F15 Eagles.
I arrived at Camp Murray at 7:00 am on Wednesday, August 25, 2010 where I received a briefing on the Washington ANG and an explanation of the refueling procedures. A military convoy then led us (a group of 8, not including staff and crew) to McChord Field where we boarded the KC-135, an aircraft from the 141st Air Refueling Wing of Fairchild AFB in Spokane, WA. I had the privilege of riding in the cockpit for takeoff. We attained 34,000ft altitude, then descended to 22,000 feet to begin refueling. We had a rendezvous with 10 F15s over Central Oregon, where I was able to witness the refueling from the belly of the plane, where the refueling is manually handled by a boom operator. The KC-135 then returned to McChord field, flying at around 13,000 feet over Mt. St. Helens and right next to Mt. Rainier (which is at 14,000 feet), so the views were phenomenal from my perch in the belly of the plane. Many thanks to the Washington Air National Guard (and especially Lt. Passion) for this amazing experience!!!

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• aircraft
• F15
• KC-135
• mid-air refueling
• Washington Air National Guard
• ANG

[daveofdefeat]

very nice video. under what circumstances will they allow you to ride along in military aircraft? I am not involved in anything special that they would take people up in the air for such as journalism, but I do record audio for video games, movies etc. Maybe arrangements can be made for this type of work as well? I guess I would have to talk to a military public affairs officer about this

[richvelazquez]

@daveofdefeat Twice a year the Washington Air National Guard offers community leaders an opportunity to see their operations, including this flight. I run a non-profit organization in Seattle, so I was invited to attend.

[redhawk587]

Thanks! Really helped me understand how this works

[seacolt]

What a cool video and must been neat to see them up close and how they do it. I enjoy the jets and all their services. At the end, the pilot saluted and pulled away.

[drummingmodellor]

You've got to love plane sex ;)

[Stonemason1990]

he was never there btw..

[Stonemason1990]

doh he cuased the crash

[Wassup81]

Incredible

[DeltaRomeoBravoLima]

Barulheira da porra

[ThePoolise88]

airplanes SUCK!

[TommyHarv]

Like mother bird feeding her baby ... with a stick :D

[FrostbitexP]

@sarancha1

But your only saying that it LOOKS easy, not IS easy...right?