In the Thud, the pilot had a choice--boom or probe!

GF

He kind of had to go with what method the tanker was offering, though.

That would be true, but an advantage, nonetheless.

GF

And then, of course, there's night refueling. To say that's a challenge in a heavy is an understatement.

Especially when you are too heavy and have to request a "toboggan" just to stay on the boom

Night AAR with new boom operator getting trained...great. :-(

Everyone's stabilizing right next to the boom...and the boom just sits there.....okay....you want ME to move over a foot to get it??? And you start chasing the boom just as the trainee decides to move it to plug you. Argghh. Both start chasing each other for a second until you decide to back out and start again.

Next attempt .... stable...and the boom is just sitting there....okay, you want ME to plug myself??? And the boom operator decides to move the boom at the same time and the out of phase dance begins again.

It's happening to the entire flight. Night AAR SOP - 'everyone gets two plugs, on/off, on/off, and then we go drink beer before everyone gets vertigo. It's not happening tonight...around and around the track we go....beer time is being wasted. It's a frustrating night trying to get plugged.

Last guy is on the boom. And the boom/receiver dance starts. FM radio call (inter flight, not heard by the tanker crew) - "just pretend it's your boyfriend and by now you're tired of him fooling around and teasing you - "just stick it in me!" LOL.

Female somewhere in this story, I hope.

LOL. It made perfect sense when I wrote it...

New female boom operator.

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!

Those were the good ole days. Great memories from the tanker side!