VIDEO INSIDE: Inside an Aerial Refueling

On Sept. 23, at March Air Reserve Base (ARB) a KC-135 Stratotanker was scheduled for a training flight to refuel a C-17 Globemaster III. The flight was strictly for training purposes, no fuel was exchanged but the procedures were exactly as if it was an actual in-air refueling session. The KC-135 Stratotanker has been providing the aerial refueling for over fifty years in the United States Air Force. According to March ARB fact sheets the KC-135 “enhances the Air Force’s capability to accomplish its primary mission of global reach.” The “flying boom” is the aircraft’s primary fuel transfer method. During the aerial refueling, the C-17 flies directly below and behind the KC-135 so the drogue attached to the flying boom can refuel the C-17. The KC-135 can refuel two different aircrafts simultaneously. As the C-17 refueling is taking place, the “boom operator” is stationed at the rear of the plane and must operate the boom during the aerial refueling. The C-17 is a cargo aircraft, and the newest one to enter the air force. According to March ARB fact sheets, the C-17 “is capable of rapid strategic delivery of troops and all types of cargo to main operating bases or directly to forward bases in the deployment area.” The aircraft's speed is about 450 knots and can drop 102 paratroopers along with their equipment. Before every flight, crew-members must review and complete flight paperwork in the briefing room. Here each soldier's role is discussed in preparation for the flight. The team goes over what is expected from each crew-member, the route that is being taken on the flight, what each member’s call names are, and anything else concerning the flight. During briefing for the Sept. 23 flight, Captain Josh Welch asked First Lieutenant Jon Flanagan, “What side do you want?” “Right side!” First Lieutenant Flanagan replied without hesitation. The KC-135 was operated by a combination of two different Air Refueling squadrons, the 336th and the 912th while the 729th Airlift Squadron, all reserves, operated the C-17. All of these squadrons are based on March ARB. After the meetings in the briefing room, crew-members headed to their aircrafts. Media personnel were then escorted to the PAX Terminal where they went through a security process very similar the process one would go through to get on a commercial airliner, except additional information including weight of the individual flying along with their carry-on bags and camera equipment. Media personnel then split up according to which aircraft they were boarding. Two different vans then drove each group to their designated aircraft. As we entered the KC-135, we were greeted by crew-members who were already stationed in the cockpit. The aircrew on the KC-135 is all active-duty. Captain Josh Welch and First Lieutenant Jon Flanagan were the KC-135 pilot and co-pilot during this aerial fueling session and Staff Sergeant Matthew Nelson was the “boom operator” and was either working from his desk in the cockpit or up, walking around the plane throughout the flight. SSgt Nelson gave safety instructions before the flight took off. At approximately 10:45 a.m., KC-135 took off with the C-17 following behind. No more than twenty minutes later, the practice refueling process began. SSgt Nelson headed to the rear of the plane. There is room for three people to lay down to view the refueling process; it is set so you have to step down and lay on your stomach to see through the window view of the C-17 being refueled. The boom operator, SSgt Nelson, sits in the middle where he controls the flying boom and there are two spots on the left and right side of him. As the C-17 approaches the rear of the plane, the boom operator prepares for the refueling process and lowers the flying boom. On the first try to connect the boom to the top of the C-17, both aircrafts came very close to each other then suddenly the C-17 lowered and brought the KC-135 right down with it. Boom operator SSgt Nelson immediately turned and asked, “Did you feel that? The C-17 is so big that when it dropped, it sucked us down with it.” Within a time span of an hour, they would attached and detach multiple times, for training purposes. The minimum amount of fuel they transfer in one sitting is 1,000 pounds; the amount of fuel determines the length of time the refueling will take. However, on average the KC-135 can transfer 7,000 pounds a minute to the C-17. The fuel tanks are located all throughout the plane; some are at the bottom of the plane. The plane can hold up to 83,000 pounds of cargo while its gross weights of up to 322,000 pounds. After about an hour of attaching and detaching the boom to the top of the C-17, the refueling process came to an end. The flight took everyone all the way to San Francisco and came back passing the Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California and all the way back to March Air Reserve Base. Video Coverage of the C-17/KC-135 Aerial Refueling: