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Does anyone know about getting rides in Aerial Refuelers?
Hi, I've seen that people can get rides in KC 135s and was wondering how to get this opportunity as well. Im located near McGuire and Dover AFB and am willing to go farther for a chance to ride. If anyone knows anything about this let me know!
Last edited by SQ22 on Thu Feb 02, 2023 6:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Typo fixed
Reason: Typo fixed
Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Ariel Refuelers?
I am only aware of active military or retired personnel being able to hitch a ride on cargo or tankers. I once travelled home for ER leave on a KC-135. Watched some ANG F-4Ds get some gas, the book operator let me watch next to him. I got my dress blues a bit dirty from it. I can’t remember the name of the AFB we landed at but from there I hopped on a T-39 which took me to Randolph AFB.
Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Ariel Refuelers?
Would an Ariel Refueler be a server of mermaid food?
Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Ariel Refuelers?
The only civilians that I can think of that could get a ride would be news media doing a story or high-up officials who have a say in the military budget.
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- GalaxyFlyer
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Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Ariel Refuelers?
Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Units do occasionally have Bosses’ Day flights for unit members to give a boss a ride as a Reserve ANG community appreciation deal. Still have to be a member. Local media, rarely when a headline event is going on. It’s gotten a lot harder over the years.
Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Aerial Refuelers?
Well, the above answers aren't exactly to mine and hundreds of other's experiences. Through CAP (Civil Air Patrol), which is the Air Force Auxiliary force, comprised of volunteer civilians, I have been able to fly on the WC-130J, a C-130J-30, and even got to sit in the back seat for landing in one. My father got the opportunity to watch refueling ops over Oklahoma in both the KC-10 and KC-135 when he was my age with CAP as well. I know several cadets who have sat in anything from A-10's to B-52's and C-130's personally. CAP is an awesome opportunity to do things most civilians dream of. We help martial aircraft at EAA Air Venture, do inland SAR, counterdrug(for those southern border states), and even get opportunities to fly in the largest fleet of Cessna's at Orientation Flights, or even a host of Military Aircraft (only during Encampment, a weeklong summer event on an AFB typically), with the proper approval of course. For those interested, the website to our National Headquarters is gocivilairpatrol.com . Well worth every penny.
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- GalaxyFlyer
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Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Aerial Refuelers?
Being in the CAP isn’t the same as an “off the street” civilian. CAP is affiliated with the USAF.
Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Aerial Refuelers?
GalaxyFlyer wrote:Being in the CAP isn’t the same as an “off the street” civilian. CAP is affiliated with the USAF.
I agree, and never said it was. Just saying that it was how I got to do similar things.
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- LyleLanley
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Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Aerial Refuelers?
Easiest way to do it is to get an education, get hired somewhere, do well enough to become a manager, hire someone who is in the guard or reserve on the side, luck out and they do air refueling, then pester them to nominate you for an employer appreciation flight. I believe it’s called ESGR.
Barring that, you could marry a service member/retiree, fly space-a, luck out and have it be a refueling flight, and hope you’re one of the lucky ones taken back. Or enlist. But these two methods are definitely the more difficult routes. Not sure if they still do CAP flights in recent times. Sorta fell by the wayside with COVID.
Barring that, you could marry a service member/retiree, fly space-a, luck out and have it be a refueling flight, and hope you’re one of the lucky ones taken back. Or enlist. But these two methods are definitely the more difficult routes. Not sure if they still do CAP flights in recent times. Sorta fell by the wayside with COVID.
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- GalaxyFlyer
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Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Aerial Refuelers?
One of the neater missions we did was take new C-5 pilots upgrading to AC to Scott. They got a full-on tour including the morning balcony brief while the crew took enlisted TACC (dead giveaway how long ago this was) out to see the plane and watch refueling. Half rode the Scott tanker, half in the C-5. Everybody was smarter after that day. Once the C-5 hard broke, so the TACC folks learned about pounding the ramp and ride back to the office.
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- LyleLanley
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Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Aerial Refuelers?
I hope they experienced the real flavor of a C-5 breaking by cracking open shopette beers next to the entry ladder or on the crew bus next to the “no drinking on bus” sign.
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- GalaxyFlyer
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Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Aerial Refuelers?
LyleLanley wrote:I hope they experienced the real flavor of a C-5 breaking by cracking open shopette beers next to the entry ladder or on the crew bus next to the “no drinking on bus” sign.
Can’t say, but sounds right. I hope they saw the usual crew “bomb burst” at the shopette where an engineer gets off for the beer, the loads decide to hit the shopette just the engineer comes out. The new LT leaves to get local money at the ATM, taking the other engineer and second co-pilot. All leaving the AC trying to keep the bus driver from leaving them all behind for his shift change. Soon 2 hours of the 12 hour crew rest are gone.
I was at Ramstein once at the commissary. We get to checkout, the engineers start unloading the carts of brats, salads, rolls, chops, enough beer for three crews AND a Weber grill in its box, bags of briquettes. We all put in some bucks as NCOIC tells me smiling, “we ever you take us tonight, Sir, we’re ready”. After Naples, we pitch up in Moron. In the dark, I’m assembling a Weber grill, shaking my damned head. Brats were good, the grill got stolen by a Buddha crew.
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- LyleLanley
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Re: Does anyone know about getting rides in Aerial Refuelers?
GalaxyFlyer wrote:LyleLanley wrote:I hope they experienced the real flavor of a C-5 breaking by cracking open shopette beers next to the entry ladder or on the crew bus next to the “no drinking on bus” sign.
Can’t say, but sounds right. I hope they saw the usual crew “bomb burst” at the shopette where an engineer gets off for the beer, the loads decide to hit the shopette just the engineer comes out. The new LT leaves to get local money at the ATM, taking the other engineer and second co-pilot. All leaving the AC trying to keep the bus driver from leaving them all behind for his shift change. Soon 2 hours of the 12 hour crew rest are gone.
I was at Ramstein once at the commissary. We get to checkout, the engineers start unloading the carts of brats, salads, rolls, chops, enough beer for three crews AND a Weber grill in its box, bags of briquettes. We all put in some bucks as NCOIC tells me smiling, “we ever you take us tonight, Sir, we’re ready”. After Naples, we pitch up in Moron. In the dark, I’m assembling a Weber grill, shaking my damned head. Brats were good, the grill got stolen by a Buddha crew.
Love it! Few things transcend communities more than the shopette run and well-intentioned but poorly executed TDY shennanigans. A few $74.99 "taxi fares" later and all is right with the world again.
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