Quote:
Originally Posted by Charlie T
That looks like a particularly dangerous refueling maneuver. I’ve seen fighters refuel where the fighter was behind and below the tanker. Is it an optical illusion in the photo or is the helicopter beside the tanker fuselage and tail? One good side wind could have significant consequences.  |
the reason why is because the fighters you saw were being refueled by a different tanker, either a kc-135 or a kc-10. those c-130's like the one in the pic are configured much differently than a kc-135 or a kc-10 tanker. both the 135 and the 10 have the drogue coming off the back of the aircraft (it's attached to the boom on the 135 and on the 10 it comes out of compartment in the fuselage above the boom pod). 135's or 10's can't refuel choppers either. they can't fly slow enough to refuel them, whereas the c-130's can.