A/R Buffoonery
 

I'm here in Freddie school for initial and today we got our A/R intro sim. Holy cow was I all over the place! The old monkey fornicating a football phrase comes to mind :o Won't have to worry about A/R school for a while but I wanted to get some tips from the heavy guys on how to make it easier when the time comes to upgrade.

Also for everybody else that A/R's lets here your funny/terrifying/I can't believe what just happened stories.

Sorry - what is A/R in AF language mean to those of us in other services that don't speak the same tongue :):confused:

USMCFLYR

Air Refueling. And Freddies are C-5's. It stands for F[reakin'] Ridiculous Economic Disaster. :D C-17's are Barneys Freds little buddy.

ask the tanker guy...
 

don't look at the boom nozzle. follow the pdi's.

Aerial Refueling I am assuming :)

Not sure how Fred handles behind the tanker, but off the top of my head, here are some tips we used in the Herk:

Though in the C-5 you don't have the instant power gratification you do in the 130, as well as much more momentum issues to deal with, make sure your corrections are small (especially in the thrust regime), wait for the result, and anticipate when that correction is no longer needed (lest you have to make another correction). Your inputs should be small enough that it seems you have to only think about it, rather than big yoke/throttle inputs.

Fix one thing (vertical, lateral, or distance) at a time. Of course, as you get better, you'll be able to fix more things simultaneously.

Use the wings of the tanker as an "ADI in the sky."

If you find yourself doing the "I can see the tanker's tail #" PIO, just stabilize yourself out to one side for a few seconds, then slowly make your bid back to centerline.

If you are only a bit outside (i.e. still between their inboard engines), we would use their jetwash to keep us from moving any further outboard. In other words, if you were drifting slightly to the right, you could keep that right aileron in and hold the plane laterally stationary against the jetwash. To move back to the left, take out some of that right aileron. This may or may not work for the C-5.

I think once you get good at pre-contact, actual contact is not too tough to pick up.

HTH!

I figured that is what is was - but thought I would clarify. Thanks.
I've often wondered which procedure was easier. I'm sorry I don't have any gouge for you in your efforts; I guess basket spotting wouldn't do you much good ;)

USMCFLYR

Tips:

1. Finger tip fly -- think pressures on the yoke instead of grabbing it. Don't "man handle" the aircraft no matter how nervous you are. AR is a finess manuever.

2. Do follow the procedures for AR and formation; they're written in blood (reference C141 collision over WA).

3. Fix the vertical first. The vertical affects drag and thus is going to require thrust changes. After that, fix the fore and aft. One caveat, NEVER EVER fix being low and inside by moving up first. You will compress the boom and cause structurual damage.

4. Stabilize in pre-contact, take a breather, trim the aircraft, and relax, BEFORE moving to contact.

5. Don't come in low to the boom and then "pop-up" into position. You are betting your life that the tanker's AP can trim out the pitch changes required.

Scariest moment: as an examiner, watching two IPs demostrate receiver AR instruction on J121 over Washington DC. Just as they parked the aircraft in the contact position, the tanker pilot, who after receiving a crossing altitude restriction by point RADDS, decided to immediately (without notice to us) pull power to idle, extend full speedbrakes, and started a push over manuever (probably using IAS hold) in order to meet the crossing restriction --- all because he didn't want to get violated.

After three breakaway calls and about 30 seconds of coming within inches of ramming the tanker, the IP flying kicked right rudder which caused us to divege from their descending flight path, and we rolled off about 80 degrees of bank and dropped 12,000 feet, literally falling out of our block altitude and the formation, all of this happening on a very busy jetway over a populated area, in IMC, with our Mode 3 set to standby. It is a miracle that we didn't ram the tanker and/or hit an airliner as we fell from the sky.

For the record, the PIC of the tanker no longer flies for us now, he flies for a commuter. And if he reads this, he is lucky I didn't ruin his career over this. It was without a doubt, the dumbest and most negligent flying I'd ever seen and he is lucky he didn't cause the crash of two KC-10s resulting in the loss of 12 crew members.

From a BUFF perspective:

On the ground, know your A/R aero effects and your visual references cold before flying. Keep your eyes moving, don't focus on the director lights. You'll be able to detect movement visually before the director lights tell you. (Different story for KC-10 director lights, since they give you trend information). Get established in pre-contact and just fly there for several minutes. Don't tense up on the yoke or the throttles, relax your grip and force yourself to move your fingers. Try flying the yoke using only 2 or 3 fingers. When stable in pre-contact, note your fuel flow (or whatever you use, we use fuel flow in the BUFF). This will be the same throttle position/thrust setting you'll need once in the contact position. If you're having trouble transitioning through the tanker downwash (either overshooting or stagnating), have your IP or pilot not flying monitor your fuel flow/thrust setting change as you start to move to the contact position. They can tell you if you've over or under compensated your thrust change requirements. (in the BUFF, it only takes about 1-2K pounds/hr of fuel flow change, maybe 1/2 a knob width of throttle movement). If necessary, just practice making the throttle changes while in the pre-contact position and then back out. Keep trying it until you get the feel.

Most terrifying moment: When the new R-model digital autopilot suddenly kicks off when you're in contact. Holy crap, that will wake you up! Happened to me twice in 23 years.

Point of interest: Has anyone been able to make it out to the right and/or left limit and hold there when on the KC-10 boom?

Dead on..also remember corrections/movements come in three's...put in a correction...take it out...adjust to stabilize...always small and to an observer it could be imperceptible

The PDIs are part of your scan...not the only part. As you see the whole picture scan them but don't fixate on them. Soon you will predict their movement/change because you see it coming.


Ask for Tanker AP off, PDI off, S-turn (30 & 45 AOB), limits demo, etc. once you get comfortable with the regular profile. Getting proficient at these will make getting that full bag of gas, over the pond, in marginal conditions much easier.

WARNING: Flying two airplanes in close vertical proximity is dangerous!



Your airplane influences the tanker -- stay on the 30° line, and make the closure slow and steady.


Relax -- breathe deep and slow, relax your hands, relax your fingers.

Inertia -- you've got a lot of it. Use small corrections, and then give them time to work. Patience is important. If you are impatient, you'll make a small correction, wait (but not long enough), put in more, and then find you've overcorrected, and you'll make an even larger correction in the opposite direction. Patience. Did I mention patience is important?

Big picture -- don't focus on any one part of the picture. Keep your eyes moving, but learn to use your peripheral vision. You can be looking at the PDI lights and still see the tanker's engines, and wings ... the more of the tanker you can "see", the better you'll be at picking up movement.

An extra minute stable in precontact is worth far more than an extra hour bouncing around in contact. Don't be in a hurry to get on the boom. Take your time to make sure you'll be able to stay on the boom.






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