Must have been a seasoned boomer bc it felt like he told the pilot once he gets into ANY part of the box to hold and then I'll hook up. You see the Viper get into the box, stay and hold, and the boom flies right into position, and bam, contact. Great teamwork and people who follow clear and concise orders would allow for much much more expedient advancement in society.
...was a KC-135 boom operator for 6 years (1979-1986), before being a KC-10 boom operator (1986-1999). refueled my first F-16 in 1980. .. very smooth contact.
I had no idea the refuel port on the F-16 was located so close to the vertical stabilizer. You guys still made it look easy, cause that's what y'all do. SALUTE.
I was a paper pusher in the USAF. But they let me fly on KC-135's all the time. I used to lay down next to the Boomer and watch refueling. B52's, F-16's, B-1's, etc. Use to get to fly on Reserve Medical Huey's a lot as well. Also got to experience the Altitude Testing Chamber once. Our base, in addition to being a SAC Base. Was also a Navigator Training Base for all services as well. They wouldn't let me do the ejection seat trainer. Lot of fun.
@dereklsept Very cool. Many people have commented that they think I have a great job, but my hat is off to you, dude ! What's the greatest number of fill-ups you've provided in one tanker flight?
2nd reply in 8 years.fighter jets and all others that make fighter jets fly my hats off to you.cant get enough of em.grettings to all from loomis california
I flew in the back seat of one back in '94....yes it's safe.....I can attest to that.....I almost creamed myself when the pilot went vertical right after wheels up......it's the greatest ride I've ever had...... the best 45 minutes of my life.
Do you have to fly that boom? ANd do you have to do it all backwards. It seems like you would need to imagine you're facing yourself.. looking in the same direction as the F-16 pilot. It looks from here that it's easier for him than it is for you to pull off an easy-looking refueling hookup. Also it's amazing how much ground you cover during the process.
Man that was a quick contact! I flew in the back of a 135 in Okinawa once when I was enlisted in the Marines. That view of the fighters below you is one of the coolest things I've seen in aviation. I would have taken boomer in a heart beat if the Air Force would have offered it to me.
What a bad ass pilot!! Given em a show, there's a video on UA-cam from a Marines body cam where he's on a .50 cal in Afghanistan comming back from patrol in a convoy, he's in the tail APC facing 6 o'clock when suddenly this apache gunship buzzes RIGHT OVER THEM haulin ass going the opposite way, then does a huge banking U and comes up on the convoy quickly and slows down and lowers to about 5' off the highway just hovering behind the convoy like another APC for a good couple minutes, right on his tail and all the Marines are laughing and getting the biggest kick out of it , then he slowly veers to the passenger side of road staying low and blows by them. Giving them a once in a lifetime show and some serious comfort knowing the worlds most deadly attack helicopter in in the convoy and has their 6. I tried to imagine seeing that convoy go by on he road with an apache in the tail right off the highway lol SO freakin cool! Also So badass seeing the F16 loaded with a full payload of smart weapons! Not much more intimidating and can't get over how badass fighter jet pilots are ! 👍👍
In the auto-biography books I read from fighter pilots, fuel seems to be just as critical as defending against threats. Makes sense when you can't just get gas and a big gulp every few blocks.
yes, once it's in contact there are valves that open and close that allow the boom to extend and retract and i have to fly it around to follow the receiver...once i disconnect him, i extend it and retract it myself again
took about a year to get fully trained to where i could fly without an instructor between classes, qualifications, mission certifications, etc. learning to make a good solid contact just takes time and experience above that still...some people pick it up quicker than others...it's like playing a video game...just no reset button for screw ups
I remember as a kid I was blessed to take a flight and watch this first hand the United States Air Force is second to none and very amazing to say the least
@johncbradley1 i'm flying it through the air with those two wings on either side of it called ruddevators (mixture of rudder/elevator)...ive been doing this for awhile now, so i can make some pretty solid contacts
Actually no. Air refueling with a boom only requires basic formation flying skills. Its considered so easy that it's not even in the training syllabus. The boom operator is doing all the work. Basket refueling on the other hand is hard.
I grew up in Central Minnesota. We would always see the refueling pair flying across from the ground, pretty much always the KC's and Bombers. Found out later that there were only a few "racetracks" above the US for that.
@AgentJayZ yes...i am flying the boom at all times before, during, and after the contact. and it flies in the direction that i move the ruddevator control stick, it's rigged for that purpose and the only thing that gets confusing is when i make location calls cause me facing backwards makes aircraft left...my right....no big deal you get used to it.
I did a couple incentive flights on these things. Great experiences. Certainly didn't hurt that the boomer was beautiful for the first flight. Not sure what I was paying attention to more, her or the 15's and 16's she was refueling.
Seems so surreal up there. I plan on going AF after college, but Im hoping for C-17s, even though theres still that something in me that wants to fly those fighters. Awesome video!
yeah it's very difficult and competitive for those guys...first you have to be selected to be a pilot...then you have to be selected for t-38's, do very well there...then just maybe if there's a slot...they'll select you to fly one of the fighters
So cool... this beats the hell out of a desk job. Thank you my friend for your service to this great nation, which the politicians seem hell bent on ruining. I for one and grateful to you and to your co-workers for your dedicated service and sacrifice.
Yes it does. and it just depends on the airplane....the tanker can offload about 7000 lbs a min....(a little over 1000 gal/min) so it puts a firehose to shame
Wow, what a move. Pulls up to a gas station 20,000 up. As for the happy flip for the fill up and grammar purposes, that would be "move", as in singular.
So Fucking Badass but I can imagine if the pilot pulled a Stewart, and says Look what I cand do!!! And accidentally fires a missile and hits the plane that just refueled him... Oooops!!!
And here we have a barely used F-16D Fighting Falcon with all the options. Our asking price is $18.1M (1998 US dollars). Ordinance is extra. Run that video from about 4 minutes on and it would be a great USAF recruiting video. Who doesn't want to be part of that team?
@dereklsept You and that guy win the internet. I've watched pretty much all of your videos now. Always wanted to be a pilot actually, gave up on it once I reached 6'4" and my vision went south, but your job is awesome as hell too.
unfortunately we don't have a real good simulator for the actual making a contact part of it...a 2d screen can't give you the proper depth perception ...its more to deal with malfunctions
Hmm 9 years old ? Preetty Cool ! 😎 I learned how to A.R. in my A-10 Thunder Hog LololoL in Lomac of course ! 😁. I wanted to Join the USAF went to recruiter with my Best Friend I did the Air force Test, my buddy did the Navy. He passed and did go to the Navy. Me,, I failed and ended up going to Auto & Diesel Technical School. Should've went back and said Give me that Test Again !!!😁😎 Please ! LololoL
yup...they get a captains chair for their boom pod...we lay down on our belly and get neck problems...they have air conditioning on the ground...we roast in 145 degree temperatures in the jet...they can talk cross cockpit without yelling...the KC-10 is a much nicer plane
Man, that boomer and the pilot are both pros. That was one smooth hook-up.
They're allowing senior citizens to run the refueling now?
🤣🤣👏🏼
@@Kraken9911 - haha u silly 🤣
Must have been a seasoned boomer bc it felt like he told the pilot once he gets into ANY part of the box to hold and then I'll hook up. You see the Viper get into the box, stay and hold, and the boom flies right into position, and bam, contact.
Great teamwork and people who follow clear and concise orders would allow for much much more expedient advancement in society.
Yeah he definitely gave good boom.
...was a KC-135 boom operator for 6 years (1979-1986), before being a KC-10 boom operator (1986-1999). refueled my first F-16 in 1980. .. very smooth contact.
Ever been to pease? I was a 111 crew chief there 80-83. we had 135`s there on the other end
Live next to Pease. Still have the 135's. Miss the 111's.
Nice. Was an F16 flightline rat at Luke from 81-85, I've always thought boom operators got the best view of an aircraft during flight of anyone.
Thank you for your service. 👍🇺🇸👍
So that adds up to 20 years of service to our country. You have my gratitude and total respect.
I could never be friends with a fighter pilot. I would be so envious I believe the jealousy would eat me alive.
Undercover Louky you're not missing anything special. Have a few fighter jock friends, they are assholes lol
play some dcs
you're afraid you turn gay....
@@raynic1173 No. I am already gay. Lmao
@@undrcoverlouky Lol, perfect!
I had no idea the refuel port on the F-16 was located so close to the vertical stabilizer. You guys still made it look easy, cause that's what y'all do. SALUTE.
i laughed at the same time the guy laughed. The joys of seeing a beautiful plane fly
I was a paper pusher in the USAF. But they let me fly on KC-135's all the time. I used to lay down next to the Boomer and watch refueling. B52's, F-16's, B-1's, etc. Use to get to fly on Reserve Medical Huey's a lot as well. Also got to experience the Altitude Testing Chamber once. Our base, in addition to being a SAC Base. Was also a Navigator Training Base for all services as well. They wouldn't let me do the ejection seat trainer. Lot of fun.
@dereklsept Very cool.
Many people have commented that they think I have a great job, but my hat is off to you, dude !
What's the greatest number of fill-ups you've provided in one tanker flight?
1 first reply in 8 years?
2nd reply in 8 years.fighter jets and all others that make fighter jets fly my hats off to you.cant get enough of em.grettings to all from loomis california
@@IntrovertCoder UA-cam didn't always group comments into subcomments. Everything was just a wall. You couldn't reply to a specific comment.
I flew in the back seat of one back in '94....yes it's safe.....I can attest to that.....I almost creamed myself when the pilot went vertical right after wheels up......it's the greatest ride I've ever had...... the best 45 minutes of my life.
FOX! DOUBLE TAP Z OR R TO DO A BARREL ROLL
+TheCubantGeneral I can't let you do that, Star Fox!
Aileron roll
Do you have to fly that boom? ANd do you have to do it all backwards. It seems like you would need to imagine you're facing yourself.. looking in the same direction as the F-16 pilot.
It looks from here that it's easier for him than it is for you to pull off an easy-looking refueling hookup.
Also it's amazing how much ground you cover during the process.
AFAIK the boom operator just guides it into the receptical. they dont have t o think of it in reverse
8 years later but I think the boom operator is facing the jet
Think about a dentist when he's working on your upper teeth through a tiny mirror with a drill. Everything is reversed.
@Rusty Climber its just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right
Under the belly of the boomer is a round glass window where you can lay on the deck and watch the jets refuel and it's an amazing sight.
watching the ground look like its waving is a awesome affect I'm sure its from the heat but it still looks awesome
Man that was a quick contact! I flew in the back of a 135 in Okinawa once when I was enlisted in the Marines. That view of the fighters below you is one of the coolest things I've seen in aviation. I would have taken boomer in a heart beat if the Air Force would have offered it to me.
You Sir, have an awesome job..great accuracy too. Thanks for letting me sleep at night in peace.
What a bad ass pilot!! Given em a show, there's a video on UA-cam from a Marines body cam where he's on a .50 cal in Afghanistan comming back from patrol in a convoy, he's in the tail APC facing 6 o'clock when suddenly this apache gunship buzzes RIGHT OVER THEM haulin ass going the opposite way, then does a huge banking U and comes up on the convoy quickly and slows down and lowers to about 5' off the highway just hovering behind the convoy like another APC for a good couple minutes, right on his tail and all the Marines are laughing and getting the biggest kick out of it , then he slowly veers to the passenger side of road staying low and blows by them. Giving them a once in a lifetime show and some serious comfort knowing the worlds most deadly attack helicopter in in the convoy and has their 6. I tried to imagine seeing that convoy go by on he road with an apache in the tail right off the highway lol SO freakin cool!
Also So badass seeing the F16 loaded with a full payload of smart weapons! Not much more intimidating and can't get over how badass fighter jet pilots are ! 👍👍
ONE THIRSTY BIRD
Perry Deleon I was thinking the same thing
Imagine a B-52 taking a drink.
In the auto-biography books I read from fighter pilots, fuel seems to be just as critical as defending against threats. Makes sense when you can't just get gas and a big gulp every few blocks.
hey, if you're strapped to hundred million's worth of cutting edge death technology you might as well try to enjoy it
That freaks me out. What amazing skill to fly together in such a coordinated way.
Where does the pilot put his loyalty card? I bet that got him a few shell points! He’ll have a free torch after 2 more refills!
He was running a little low on fuel I'd presume but, that was some pretty "SMOOTH" stick work by that pilot no doubt!! 😃👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👌🏾👍🏾❤💯
I was in command of the F-16 in this video. We were flying over the Sierra Nevada mountains.
I believe the fighter jet was flirting with the fuelling aeroplane!
Great skill.
Great vid.
He has a lot of balls not having any sidewinders. More power to him.
He has 2 AMRAAM's
yes, once it's in contact there are valves that open and close that allow the boom to extend and retract and i have to fly it around to follow the receiver...once i disconnect him, i extend it and retract it myself again
I think flying a fighter jet has to be an exhilarating experience. Every thing else probably seems pretty slow, though...
Best mid air refuel "hook up" iv ever seen!
took about a year to get fully trained to where i could fly without an instructor between classes, qualifications, mission certifications, etc. learning to make a good solid contact just takes time and experience above that still...some people pick it up quicker than others...it's like playing a video game...just no reset button for screw ups
I remember as a kid I was blessed to take a flight and watch this first hand the United States Air Force is second to none and very amazing to say the least
@johncbradley1 i'm flying it through the air with those two wings on either side of it called ruddevators (mixture of rudder/elevator)...ive been doing this for awhile now, so i can make some pretty solid contacts
Why is refuelling taking so long? A pilot mighty steady!
This is one of the hardest things I've ever done "in a sim" so I can just imagine how difficult it is in real life.
Actually no. Air refueling with a boom only requires basic formation flying skills. Its considered so easy that it's not even in the training syllabus. The boom operator is doing all the work. Basket refueling on the other hand is hard.
@@muf722 Well the ai that handles the Boom in video games is utter crap so it may as well be a basket lol.
The tanker pilot have no idea that the fuck is happening right behind him lol
some of that land below looked like a great place to have a remote cabin with absolute privacy and tranquility !
Who ever invented mid air refueling was a genius.
Amazing how they can fly perfectly still ! Badass!👍
2 moves shown. 4:01 and 5:06 rest is standard refuel video.
I grew up in Central Minnesota. We would always see the refueling pair flying across from the ground, pretty much always the KC's and Bombers. Found out later that there were only a few "racetracks" above the US for that.
@AgentJayZ yes...i am flying the boom at all times before, during, and after the contact. and it flies in the direction that i move the ruddevator control stick, it's rigged for that purpose and the only thing that gets confusing is when i make location calls cause me facing backwards makes aircraft left...my right....no big deal you get used to it.
Video starts at 3:49
Grimm Teller I didn’t see it start at all.
Tanker to Fox "show em how to fly that bird"
Fox to Tanker "Roger will do"
nice job though
What a cool reaction of the tanker pilot! Those damn fighter pilots...
This makes me smile
I wonder if pilots feel as badass as i would feel
That’s one thirsty jet!
@AgentJayZ and also we're moving at about 7 miles a minute, so four minutes covers roughly 28 miles
Must of been almost out of fuel if it taking that long to fuel up. Lol great video.
Could be, I know They had F-16s up there until just recently I heard they were talking about moving them down to Anchorage to Elmondorf for Storage.
The F-15 enjoyed that refueling a little TOO much! Bobbing up and down during penetration and then "Whoo Hoo! move after pulling out!
F-16👍🏼
I did a couple incentive flights on these things. Great experiences. Certainly didn't hurt that the boomer was beautiful for the first flight. Not sure what I was paying attention to more, her or the 15's and 16's she was refueling.
just over some mountains with some snow on them...nowhere particularly important
Even checked his blind spot.
Damn impressive. Anyone know where approximately this was taken? The canyons below at about 1 min in were insane.
Jeez you have one awesome job and that vid of the B2 was sweet!
A total fill up? And no one washed his windshield? What 😳
Seems so surreal up there. I plan on going AF after college, but Im hoping for C-17s, even though theres still that something in me that wants to fly those fighters. Awesome video!
Is this over Alaska? You have a really nice view of it all. Thanks for all you do!
yeah it's very difficult and competitive for those guys...first you have to be selected to be a pilot...then you have to be selected for t-38's, do very well there...then just maybe if there's a slot...they'll select you to fly one of the fighters
My dog can roll over too. More impressed by the dog.
If suddenly there was a lot of heavy turbulance would it be safer to disconnect the boom or to hang on for a minute?
Looks like they're over the stan.
Ahh... ok.
I totally agree.
thank goodness for flight simulators eh? reset buttons whenever it goes wrong... I guess that's my best bet for "flying".
3:50 you’re welcome.
didnt bother to read the description i see...
Wish I was as good as either the pilot or the boom operator
Imagine if you dropped you camera, i dont think a nokia 3310 could even survive that...
i think those bombs are gbu 38's (Jdam GPS guided bomb) and gbu 54's (laser jdam gps and laser capable bombs)
So cool... this beats the hell out of a desk job. Thank you my friend for your service to this great nation, which the politicians seem hell bent on ruining. I for one and grateful to you and to your co-workers for your dedicated service and sacrifice.
amazing stuff, I want to join the dutch airforce, I hope I will make it through man..
A
Did u make it man?
cool pilot nice moves , but it there was much turbulence , much respect for the pilot
Yes it does. and it just depends on the airplane....the tanker can offload about 7000 lbs a min....(a little over 1000 gal/min) so it puts a firehose to shame
Wow, what a move. Pulls up to a gas station 20,000 up. As for the happy flip for the fill up and grammar purposes, that would be "move", as in singular.
I love the F-16!
Love your work!! You guys are slick as..
So Fucking Badass but I can imagine if the pilot pulled a Stewart, and says Look what I cand do!!! And accidentally fires a missile and hits the plane that just refueled him... Oooops!!!
wow interesting
how much flexibility is in that pipe
i mean if the jet accidently flies up a foot or two will it snap off?
That is one Bird of prey !!!!
Man these guys are good at what they do! The way he just comes right in and hits the refueling boom like it's nothing.
Keep up the goood work
Gotta keep this stuff interesting somehow.
Nice barrel exit !
How the hell did the fuel pipe connect so precisely?!
@gearsofwarmad2 if the thick glass that my camera was resting on was broken...i imagine i'd have more pressing issues to worry about
Viper is loaded for hunting. 2 x Aim-120c. 4 x JDAM's. I would assume 510 rounds of HEI 20mm. Good luck and good hunting Sir!
...fully armed too.
It carries more than that. So not exactly "fully armed"
When you disconnect, and that bit of fuel goes behind the plane, does it ever light on fire and make a little fireball?
I was a fighter pilot in the civil war. Best job I ever had!
Wait a minute...
What civil war?
Hey, I think you were my wingman once. We got into a dogfight with some Iraqi Migs right?
That was a thirsty Eagle. He was latched on for 3min28sec. How much fuel would you transfer in that amount of time?
Falcon
The F16 pilot must have known you were recording ;)
And here we have a barely used F-16D Fighting Falcon with all the options. Our asking price is $18.1M (1998 US dollars). Ordinance is extra. Run that video from about 4 minutes on and it would be a great USAF recruiting video. Who doesn't want to be part of that team?
Someone’s got experience..
@dereklsept You and that guy win the internet. I've watched pretty much all of your videos now. Always wanted to be a pilot actually, gave up on it once I reached 6'4" and my vision went south, but your job is awesome as hell too.
Guess if you live with a rush like that 24/7 with ya life on the line your aloud some fun. Same as any other war.
Daaaaaaam that looks super hard... I guess that's years of training eh?
Aliens........................"Hold my beer"
Lol I like him comming back up. Trolling hard
depends on the plane obviously...a big plane like a C-5...holds quite a bit more fuel than a fighter
unfortunately we don't have a real good simulator for the actual making a contact part of it...a 2d screen can't give you the proper depth perception ...its more to deal with malfunctions
Great video! Thanks for posting!
Hmm 9 years old ? Preetty Cool ! 😎 I learned how to A.R. in my A-10 Thunder Hog LololoL in Lomac of course ! 😁. I wanted to Join the USAF went to recruiter with my Best Friend I did the Air force Test, my buddy did the Navy. He passed and did go to the Navy. Me,, I failed and ended up going to Auto & Diesel Technical School. Should've went back and said Give me that Test Again !!!😁😎 Please ! LololoL
Fastest connect ever
Thanks for everything your doing for us.
Will they go after those responsible for operation fast and furious?
yup...they get a captains chair for their boom pod...we lay down on our belly and get neck problems...they have air conditioning on the ground...we roast in 145 degree temperatures in the jet...they can talk cross cockpit without yelling...the KC-10 is a much nicer plane
I can do that easy, hold my beer.