[Scan-DC] Air Refuel Question

[Frederic K. Charles]

Matt,

I can't speak for what you saw yesterday but air refueling ops is very
routine does not pose the threat that you may think.  A/R orbits
(racetracks pattern) and A/R tracks (straight lines) are published in FAA
FLIP charts. A/R orbits and tracks are located away from major ATC jet
routes, approach and departures routes, etc. They are quite frequently
located offshore within ATCAA airspace (established IFR areas used by the
military).

As far as air refueling ops with fighter sized aircraft is concerned keep
in mind that fighters usually operate in two or four-ships. (My experience
is in the USAF so I'll speak from that perspective; the USN/USMC may do
things differently.)  In multi-fighter AAR using boom refueling (as
opposed to drogue refueling [USN/USMC]) the positioning of the fighters
vis a vis the tanker is well defined.  Fighters who have completed or are
awaiting to refuel will fly on the tankers wing tips offset by about 50 -
100 feet.  This is so both the tanker's pilots and boom operator can
maintain visual contact with all "players".  Fighters (receivers) who's
turn it is to AAR will move to the "pre contact" position which is about
50 feet behind and slightly below the tanker. Once the boom operator has
established  radio contact and has a visual on his receiver he will direct
the fighter into the "contact position", usually about 10-12 feet below
the boom.  The fighter will fly steady while the boomer "flies" his boom
into the receiver's A/R receptacle using a joystick and other controls.
Once the refueling is complete (3-5 minutes for fighter-types depending on
their type and off load request, mission requirements, etc.)   he will fly
to the opposite tanker wing tip from which he came.  He will wait for all
his wing men to complete AAR. After all fighters are complete they will
carefully separate from the tanker and resume their mission.

Keep in mind that what I described above is a typical peacetime AAR for
fighters. "Heavies" such as B-52s, E-3s, etc do not have wing men and will
have different pre-contact ranges and other procedures.  Also, there may
be situations where strict radio silence, nighttime ops, or other discrete
procedure may be used to avoid making the operation's presence known to an
adversary.

I wrote a lot but I hope it helps.

Rick C.
Former E-3 AWACS controller
(30 mission Desert Storm AAR Controller)

Matt Carter wrote:

> Perhaps the folks who listen to the CAP over DC can shed some
> light on this one.
>
> Yesterday at about 6:30 PM while on Mass Ave near Rock Creek
> Park and looking South I saw what I'm assuming to be a refueling
> op.  There was a large plane with a small plane right on it's wing
> flying nice and slowly to the E/SE.  They were low eonugh for me to
> make out both planes (my guesstimate is 20k feet give or take) and
> couldn't have been outside the beltway.  There was also another
> fighter coming from the same general area as the other two planes.
>
> I've never seen this before, and had always assumed that refueling
> happened off-station a bit, especially over densely populated areas
> (due to the inherent risks of having two planes witin feet of each
> other).  Did I see a refueling, or was I watching a fighter escort, or
> am I just crazy?
>
> Thanks!!!
>
> Matt
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