Forward

As with all things, it is easier to learn something if you approach it by first breaking it down into its most elemental pieces and then examining each of those pieces. This is how we will approach the "Bane of all Falcon Pilots", i.e. Air to Air refueling. The following items are the critical components necessary for making an approach and hookup with a tanker for A2A refueling: Altitude (pitch), Attitude (roll), and Speed (power).

Basically, you have to line up horizontally, line up vertically, and match speeds with the tanker in order for them to be able to hookup an give you some gas. Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it. So let's look at these pieces and get some clues on what we're doing wrong and what we need to do to be able to hookup with the tanker.

Bobbin' and Weavin'

While Bobbin and Weavin is great for a prize fighter, it is the last thing that you want when tryin to hookup to the tanker. It is probably the one thing that most of us struggle with that make it impossible to hookup to the tanker. For the purposes of this discussion I will define Bobbing as Pitch, and Weaving as roll.

Why we bobbin? We are flying the boom, i.e. we are trying to line up with the boom. This is a mistake since the boom will be flown to us. All we have to do is get in the general vicinity of the boom and the boom operator will fly the boom to us.

We are NOT flyin the Flight Path Marker. If we are to hookup with tanker we must fly straight and level. The most important thing that I have found to stop diving and climbing, aka "bobbin" is to make sure that I’m flyin the Flight Path Marker. Keep that baby lined up with the Horizon Line on the HUD and presto….no more bobbin. You want to line up with the tanker right from the start so you don’t have to make huge pitch corrections. Just fly straight and level. Now your major concern should be roll correction.

Why we weavin? Weavin is gonna happen because you need to line up with the tanker. The key to victory here is very small corrections and USE THE RUDDER PEDALS! I have found that using the rudder pedal with the stick, i.e. very small, co-coordinated turns is what gets me through it. (if you don’t have rudders, don’t fret. You can still make it w/o rudders…just makes it a little easier.)

Again, the key here is very small corrections. Remember, the plane doesn’t fly like a car, it’s more like sliding across ice. You have to anticipate and correct before the correction is needed.

Rules of Thumb

1. Fly the Tanker.

Don’t try to fly the boom. Since the entry point for the fuel is behind your head, you won’t see where to direct the boom anyway. The guys that work the boom are union, so they would be really PO’ed if you took their jobs away from them. So, fly the tanker. Work at positioning yourself under the tanker.

2. Fly the Horizon.

Fly the tanker to get in close, but once you're close in you will need to start flying the horizon. It's just like driving a car. You can’t watch the road down by your wheel and drive effectively. You need to drive the car by watching way ahead of you. The same applies to getting underneath the tanker; you need to fly the horizon. That’s where you eyes should be looking and you should only briefly glance at the tanker.

3. Watch your speed.

Now were stabilized. We’re basically flying at the same height, parallel with the horizon, and we’re basically lined up with the tanker. What now? Speed! How fast are you going? Here there are a couple of tricks that will help.

Make sure that you use the Digital Air Speed Indicator (hit "ctrl H" to switch to this view) instead of the Analog Air Speed Indicator. It’s very hard to judge how fast you're going with just the tape.

Make sure you are watching your Fuel Flow indicator. It helps to know how fast you should be going. I have found that when I’m in close, I want the consumption to be at about 2100 to 2300. That will give me a walking gait takeover speed, which is about what you want. Any slower and you won’t catch the tanker. (Obviously you want your initial approach speed with the tanker with a greater than this but when you get close, i.e. you can see the boom, then you need to start to really manage your speed. It is better to slow gradually then to slam on the air brakes and try and match speed that way.)

The manual says that the tanker is traveling at approximately 300 kts, personally I have found that when I'm in close I need to slow to about 297-300 kts. At this speed, I can overtake the tanker. According to the manual, your approach should be somewhere between, 300 and 305 kts. Experiment with this. I have found that 302 is too fast, I fly past the tanker. It seems that hookup speed for me is 297 kts.

In Close

The tanker is set to give you instructions for corrections along all three axes: pitch (Vertical), roll (horizontal), and power (forward and backwards). You want to shoot for only having to make corrections for one axis (i.e. forward/backwards, IOW Speed.) if you can.

If you have lined up properly during your ingress to the tanker you should be pretty much on target and just need to match speed. You may also have to make some minor corrections for roll, but if you find yourself having to do all three you're in for a rough ride.

Once I’m in close, believe it or not, I don’t try and adjust my flight based on the lights underneath the tanker. I simply listen to the instructions from the "Boom Boss". As long as you're going just a little faster (1 to 3 kts) than the tanker, when the boom can reach you it should hook up (you'll know you have hooked up because the boom boss will say "Contact"). As soon as it hooks up, take your hands off the controls and enjoy the ride. Once you're full, the tanker will break away.

Initial Lineup (See Fig 1 below...)

This is just after you get into the refueling TE. We have already lined up with the tanker. A couple of things to note here.

Notice where the horizon is with relation to the Tanker. We’re not pointing our nose AT the tanker, we’re pointing our nose UNDERNEATH the tanker.

Notice the position of the Flight Path Marker, centered under the tanker and parallel with the Horizon Line. If we line up correctly here it makes the job a whole lot easier….at this point we’re just under a mile away.

Figure 1.

Overtaking the Tanker
(See Figure 2)

Now you want to overtake the tanker. Make your speed somewhere between 325 and 350. The urge is to close the distance really fast, but that can easily lead to an overshoot.

At this point I have bumped the speed up but am cutting it back. Notice the digital display on the speed (circled in red )…and the cockpit view is in the up mode. Note: I am using an edited cockpit view. The stock cockpit view will not show you the Fuel Flow gauge (circled in red ) when looking thru the HUD View (this view is up one click from the normal cockpit view.)

This is critical to be able to see this gauge as you overtake the tanker and especially when you close it. I use this gauge when I’m close in much more then I use the Analog Air Speed Indicator. Again, note the position of the Flight Path Marker and the Horizon Line.

Figure 2.

Still Closing (See Figure 3)

Here we are still closing. Notice again.. Air speed, Position of tanker in HUD, and Flight Path Marker and Horizon Line (All circled in red ). Air speed is still bleeding down. You can tell this by the Fuel Flow Gauge and the Digital Airspeed Indicator if you click to bring up the large image.

Figure 3.

In Close (See Figure 4)

Now we’re in really close. When you can see the boom, you want to be approaching walking speed overtake. Here you will notice that I have fallen below this speed. At this point I am having to add throttle. Also note the position of the tanker in the HUD. RESIST THE URGE TO PUT THE FLIGHT PATH MARKER ON THE TANKER OR YOU WILL PERMANENTLY MERGE WITH THE TANKER.

Remember, the tanker is flying the horizon, so to hook up with the tanker, you must fly the horizon. If you need any pitch correction it should be extremely minor . Bring the Flight Path Marker just over the Horizon Line, then put it back. We are talking a matter of 5 to 10 feet vertical movement here. Also note, I am just a little off the correct roll axis. A small correction to the left will take care of this.

Figure 4.

We are now approaching the tanker at approximately the correct speed, altitude, and attitude. 2100 to 2300 will give you a slow overtake of the tanker. The current speed shows 298 kts on its way up to 300.

Figure 5.

Here in Figure 6 we are almost in position for hookup. You can see the light and you can no longer see the boom. This is where you want to be.

Figure 6.

There is an attitudinal correction that will take place here. A SMALL roll to the right will correct this (almost a non-movement of the stick. Pull just off center to the right for just an instant then correct with left roll for just an instant. The left correction should be approx. ½ as long as the right correction.) Notice that the Flight Path Marker is still on the Horizon Line. This is crucial to keeping the correct pitch of the aircraft.

Hookup!

If all is done correctly you will be rewarded with the sight below. You are hooked up and refueling. This is approximately where you want your aircraft positioned under the tanker. Do not touch the controls, just let the jet refuel.

Figure 7.

Figure 8 shows what it looks like from the outside. Once the tanker has filled you up, it will disconnect you at which point you can go where you will….If you are really devious, you may follow the course of action outlined below.

Figure 8.

And of course, no "SHOT" of an air to air refueling mission would be complete without the "Money Shot". Thought that the urge to blow it out of the sky would leave after you had conquered air to air refueling….heheheh, Guess again!!! (This is not an official practice of the 187th VFW.)

Figure 9.

Well folks…you now know how to do a mid-air refueling mission. I hope that this has been helpful. If you're ever looking for some action check out the 187th web page at www.187th.org, or come and meet with us on IRC. The web page has all the contact details..... Happy refueling!