I flew E-3 from mid 2000 until late 2007. Couple of things I want to bring up.

1) When the KC-135 refueled us with 4 pumps working the transfer rate was around 6000lbs per minute. The most fuel I ever had in the tanks was just under 155k, 344K inflight max weight with some flight/g restrictions.

2) Gross weight of the E-3, gross weight of tanker, CG, what country the KC-135 tanker was from, refueling altitude, and refueling track (straight line) or anchor (25 miles turn 180 degrees, race track pattern) all affect the difficulty refueling. I am sure I missed some items, which affect the process. I have never refueled above FL260 because the E-3 was a pig above 260. If a KC-10 showed up to refuel us and she was at max gross weight and I was going to max gross weight there was no way I was going to be able to keep up on an anchor toward the end of the refueling process. Anchors where used most often while we where deployed. As I got close to my max weight we would be in at MRT (Military Rated Thrust).

3) Refueling in an E-3 is all hand flown. We don't have an autopilot for refueling nor do we have any systems that make it easier like power assist. I am not a Buff guy but I have been told that they have something like power steering that is used in AR (air refueling). One of you Buff guys can chime in here.


KC10 FATboy did a good job explaining the process.

For me the hardest time air refueling was when I was over Afghanistan behind a French KC-135 at night. The French crew would not turn their lights up at all. I think they where on the lowest setting and instead of leaving their throttles alone in the turns (we where on an anchor) they would push up the throttles every time they turned and pull away from us. I had to cheat to the inside of the turn just a bit to hang on, as we got close to the end of the refueling cheating to the inside of the turn wasn't enough and we would fall off the back end of the boom.

My longest flight was 18.8hrs with three refuelings, Tinker to somewhere in the Middle East non-stop.

The best AR pilots I saw were the Buff pilots that transferred to the E-3. Maybe something to do with CFIC that they went too.