Originally Posted by
1Seat 1Engine
Almost 4000 hours in the F-16 and one of the most consistently terrifying things in the airplane was instructing a newbie on his first night AAR from the back seat, followed by a backseat night landing.
Really, it was less comfortable than a dentist chair. I was always untying the knots in my toes afterwards.
On deployment, when you'd refuel several times a flight, it actually gets to be quite uneventful. Especially if the boomers are proficient; a fact frequently overlooked. Proficient confident boomers make refueling go WAY faster. Timid boomers can ruin your night.
Hell, there's usually more funny stories about blown tanker rejoins than actual refueling. Remember! Never go two circle with a tanker above 20,000, he might out-rate you!
Agree, pretty much everything about sitting in the back sucked, the night made it suck and scary to boot. I had 2 flights where I had to put the student on the boom and let him take it from there. That was cleared solo in my book
-- didn't want to make anybody else sit through that abomination!!!