As a Freddy bubba I really hate AR. The really funny thing is that I'm actually pretty good at it, but I have a tendency to get myself all worked up over it. Once I get that "...contact" then it's game on and I now compete with myself to see if I can hang to get the gas without dropping off the boom. (knock on wood) hasn't happened yet .

My advice to you is know your platform and know what you're refueling against. I hate the 10, just my preference, but I prefer the 135. Most of the guys in my SQ love the 10 because of the huge envelope, but that damned #2 just messes with my mind. Once in contact with the 10, the envelope almost allows you to get up, take a ****, heat up your Cappriattis, stretch, and finish up your 100k onload on 20NE. The 135 has only a few quirks, but in the end I am more comfortable and stable behind it.

Knowing Freddy is key. Are you 500k or 700k? That question alone makes a HUGE difference in how you AR. With a light jet against a 135 you can, once stable, use just the inboards to control your position. I use the "potatoe" technique. I make a power input, count to "4 potatoe" and then take half out. Every power input is actually going to be three; the initial input, the half back out/in, and the final position once you stabalize. A heavy jet against a 10, with a contact speed of 275 (vs the 135 contact speed of 252) can be a ball buster. Momentum is not your friend at that point. If you are not 3 steps ahead of the jet (ie vert and horz position, and power) you'll end up hunting for that sweet spot. The more you AR the more you'll actually "see" the movement before it happens. It sounds weird, but the best guys I've seen AR are already making corrections before the jet has changed positions.

My advice in a nutshell: pick an AR song and sing it in your head, chew gum, wiggle your fingers and your toes, realize that no matter how much the tanker ****es you off by being "unstable" they have the gas you need, accept minor deviations, fix the vertical (the 30 degree line) first, tell the tanker you're "moving" if you get close to the limits, be stable in pre-contact, if you need a break have the copilot fly in pre-contact, trim the jet as you get gas (a good click of trim/10k of gas is a good start), and know that you are doing someting that most "sane" people would NEVER dream of doing!

cheers!