Dl757md From United States of America, joined May 2004, 1555 posts, RR: 18 Posted (6 years 11 months 2 weeks 6 hours ago) and read 2095 times:
I just watched a KC-135R land on runway 35 at SLC around 6:20PM today and noticed as it landed that what appeared to be the refueling hose was dangling from the boom. The boom was retracted but whatever was dangling from it appeared tan in color with a yellow something at the end. It hung pretty much straight down and the end was only a few feet above the ground.
I was at the Delta hangar which is probably about a mile away so it was hard to see more detail than what I've already described. Any ideas what I saw or what happened? Is this a fairly common malfunction? KC135TopBoom. You have any ideas or insights?
Dl757md From United States of America, joined May 2004, 1555 posts, RR: 18 Reply 2, posted (6 years 11 months 2 weeks 5 hours ago) and read 2077 times:
Quoting Lt-AWACS (Reply 1): It never touched the ground, correct?
That is correct Sir. The end of it was a few feet off the ground.
Quoting Lt-AWACS (Reply 1): Did it have pods on the wings by any chance?
I thought the same thing and looked for them but didn't see any. It was about a mile away, but at that distance I could clearly see the object dangling from the boom.
Quoting Lt-AWACS (Reply 1): Could have been in Probe and Drogue configuration to refuel Navy aircraft
Are you saying it is normal for a KC-135 in Probe and Drogue config to trail refueling line from the boom at landing?
Lt-AWACS From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 3, posted (6 years 11 months 2 weeks 5 hours ago) and read 2071 times:
Some of them do trail the hose yes. But the ones I have seen and flown on in P&D config do not trail it down to where it almost hits the ground.
The majority of KC-135s cannot be reconfigured in flight, between Boom and Probe/Drogue config so it must be added on the ground (until the Navy rips the basket off-bad joke )
There are even different types of baskets. Soft versus hard for brit/int'l ops versus Navy ops and on various tankers like KDC-1s versus KC-1s and such.
It made for an interesting time doing Tanker control during OSW and OEF.
As for the hose specs TopBoom or someone else is a better expert than me, US and NATO E-3s only do Boom refueling so that is all I have seen from sitting in the front during some a/r's.
Ciao, and Hook 'em Horns,
Capt-AWACS, Aliens exist, the USAF isn't real
Dl757md From United States of America, joined May 2004, 1555 posts, RR: 18 Reply 5, posted (6 years 11 months 2 weeks 4 hours ago) and read 2051 times:
Quoting EMBQA (Reply 4): Yes...it's the only way a KC-135 is set up with a drouge system. What you saw was 100% normal.
Thanks EMBQA, that's exactly what I saw. You learn something new everyday!
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