@Ceemysix
36 year Boom Operator here with 6400 flight hours all on the -135. 1980-2016, I got to fly through 3pm different engine variants and the cockpit modernization from the old “round dial” cockpit. For all the mods done to the aircraft during my tenure, the boom pod only saw a couple of mods to include a tail mounted floodlight and a boom trim mechanism.
@compt3ck
My grandfather was a pilot of B-29's during WWII and was selected to be one of the first pilots to test in flight refueling after the war in the GEM program. He said he was selected because of his formation flying abilities and that it was very intense training that required the upmost concentration. Throttle control was paramount when the tanker was loosing lots of weight and his plane was taking on weight.
@bastadimasta
0:20 The same event in Libya was also the first anti-aircraft warfare in history because the Turkish troops fired back at the Italian airplane.
@Wunderbolts
It’s crazy how the kc-135 was only the second aircraft built from the factory to be a tanker aircraft and is still in service today.
@reggierico
My son, Alex is a KC135 pilot in the Air National Guard. Their tankers are the 'newest' 135s in service. Their date of manufacture is 1965!
@jimday6244
Great work! In the FWIW department. The USAF solved the early issues with Tanker/Receiver speed differentials (rather than the receiver nearing stall speed) by flying a “toboggan”. Both aircraft would start a shallow descent, allowing the tanker to speed up to an appropriate speed for the receiver. It was still a thing we kept in our bag of tricks if we ever had a speed-limited refueling.
@samsignorelli
One thing you missed was why the USAF chose the flying boom for it's primary refueling method for decades...refueling fuel capacity on the refueler plane and greater the of fuel flow...very important considerations when you need to gas up large planes like B-52s. The Navy is generally size-limited on it's planes -- specifically carrier planes -- so the higher fuel flow rate is not needed, thus the P&B works well. Now, USAF tankers can employ both methods for better cross-service fueling.
@hunterhalo2
I was a flight test boom operator. Thanks for making this and keeping the heritage.
@moonasha
I never ever would have guessed aerial refueling came about so quickly after the airplane was invented. Just mindblowing how fast planes improved
@FlorinSutu
This documentary is also a lost opportunity to remind about a formidable achievement of the (British) Royal Air Force, who in 1982 bombed targets needing 7,600 mi / 12,200 km round trips, during the Falklands War. Check "Operation Black Buck" in Wikipedia. During each of those operations, 11 tankers took off to feed only one bomber, the only bomber through the whole mission. They were not supplying only the bomber, but also in between, and those who emptied first left the formation earlier.
@lazystart
I'll admit that I'm biased since I started my military career as a KC-135 crew chief, but I don't think that drone tankers are going to oust large manned tankers from service, probably ever. Tactically, in contested environments forward, the drone tankers definitely have an advantage, but that's only part of what tankers do. Tankers have the ability to drag fighters from their main bases, plus carry the support equipment and maintainers to sustain those fighters at the same time. Also, in the procurement game the Air Force has a "no more vanilla tankers" policy, so your tankers have cargo, medevac, and roll on command, control and communications capabilities. Even current KC-135s are equipped with the ability to mount pretty impressive communications networking capabilities. There will definitely be drones in the aerial refueling mix, though especially when they put booms on them to support the non-probe USAF birds. A hypothetical mix would be manned tankers supporting a strike package from CONUS to within the range of enemy air defenses and then the smaller, stealthy drone tankers supporting the strike package within EAD range.
@panther105
Very cool and heart warming that the first company to develop a functional refueling system was given a second kick at the can to make an even more efficient refueling system than the one that outmoded their original design.
@ducttapetech9885
The Guinness World Record was set in 1958 in a Cessna 172 that flew nonstop for 64 days, 22 hours, and 19 minutes and covered 150,000 miles (240,000 kilometers). That's about six times around the Earth or 15 Sydney-New York flights without touching the ground.
@harryparsons2750
Those people climbing onto the wings were nuts!
@thunderatsea3843
The amount of information you put into a ~20 minute video is impressive. Awesome video, and keep up the good work.
@gallardoranch5129
The footage in this video is incredible! Thank you.
@JimAllen-j2f
You missed an important event. Two brothers in Meridian Miss were the first to perfect the connecting valve. Their plane is in the Smithsonian. It is a very interesting story
@agrofindastation
I was down in San Diego on the 100th anniversary and they had a KC-10, KC-46, and two KC-135s do a fly over in honor of that event. It was so cool.
@marvinochieng6295
You always have to drop everything when Newmind uploads a new video. Great content !
@NewMind