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Aerial refueling started out as a stunt
Hearld.Net ^ | 3/29/2010 | Michelle Dunlop

Posted on 03/28/2010 4:10:35 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld

man who walked on wings.

Two daredevil pilots.

A five-gallon can of fuel.

Aerial refueling began as a stunt, rather than a key defense capability that today keeps America's military going. A maneuver that then probably earned the participants a few bucks has transformed into a multibillion-dollar industry with thousands of workers.

From a man leaping from one aircraft to another, to what amounts to a fireman's hose connecting two planes, to today's high-tech boom system, aerial refueling has evolved dramatically over the last 89 years. Here's a look at Boeing's role.

Early efforts

The first refueling in the air took place in 1921 and essentially was a barnstorming stunt, involving a wing walker jumping from one aircraft to another with a five-gallon can of fuel strapped to his back. In 1923, the Army Air Service conducted an aerial refueling using two de Havilland DH-4B aircraft and a hose.

In 1929, Bill Boeing recognized the business potential for aerial refueling as a means of speeding up the delivery of mail. Boeing worked with the Army Air Corps for the nonstop transcontinental flight of the Boeing Model-95 named “Boeing Hornet Shuttle.” Boeing used two modified Model-40 aircraft and the Air Corps provided two Douglas C-1 aircraft for refueling.

KB-29 tankers

With the Cold War came the need to fly bombers long distances without stopping for fuel. Boeing converted its B-29 bombers to tankers that could fly from U.S. military bases to targets inside the Soviet Union. The initial 92 B-29 converted tankers used a refueling technique — a system of looped hoses — developed by two British men in the 1930s.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.combataircraft.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: aerialrefueling; aerospace; aviationhistory; boeing; tankers; usaf

On Nov. 21, 1921, Frank Hawks flew his Lincoln Standard biplane over Long Beach, California. Wesley May, a barnstorming wing walker, crawled up onto its top wing. With a five-gallon can of gasoline strapped to his back, May started walking toward the edge of the right wing
1 posted on 03/28/2010 4:10:35 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld
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To: sonofstrangelove

Need pictures of all these planes.


2 posted on 03/28/2010 4:13:49 PM PDT by Freds2nd
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To: sonofstrangelove
Whenever props and blades are involved, it can get interesting......

CH-53 Refuelling

3 posted on 03/28/2010 4:17:28 PM PDT by edpc (Those Lefties just ain't right)
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To: edpc

http://gilbz.files.wordpress.com/2006/09/haha.jpg


4 posted on 03/28/2010 4:22:25 PM PDT by mamelukesabre (Si Vis Pacem Para Bellum (If you want peace prepare for war))
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To: sonofstrangelove

No mention of drogue and probe.


5 posted on 03/28/2010 4:26:26 PM PDT by dis.kevin (Dry white toast)
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To: Freds2nd
Take a look at-->Warbitrd alley
6 posted on 03/28/2010 4:26:57 PM PDT by Young Werther (wtih)
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To: dis.kevin

I did not see that either.


7 posted on 03/28/2010 4:35:40 PM PDT by ErnstStavroBlofeld ("I have learned to use the word "impossible" with the greatest caution."-Dr.Wernher Von Braun)
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To: sonofstrangelove
Where else can you get paid for laying on your stomach and passing gas?


8 posted on 03/28/2010 4:42:02 PM PDT by scoobysnak71 (I'm light skinned with no negro dialect. Could you milk me?)
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To: sonofstrangelove

I spent my Air Force years, 1966-1969 working on B-52s and KC-135Qs.

Saw lots of aerial refeuling of fighters, B-52s, almost got to see a SR-71 but wasn’t cleared for it. The boom operator said later he would have let me watch it anyway but it was too late then.


9 posted on 03/28/2010 4:42:58 PM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Obama's vision for America...Green shoots and skittles, where pancakes grow on fritter trees.)
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To: edpc
"Whenever props and blades are involved, it can get interesting..."

Yup - "No fuel for you".
thanx for the video - haven't seen that in awhile.

10 posted on 03/28/2010 4:53:32 PM PDT by Psalm 73 ("Gentlemen, you can't fight in here - this is the War Room".)
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To: sonofstrangelove

I had the time of my life spending 6 years as a Boom Operator in the KC-135A/Q (steam jets) and 5 years in the KC-10A. That was until the Medical Hobby Shop grounded me on a medical (1979-1990). My favorite part of it was the 3 ½ years I spent at Beale AFB refueling the SR-71. Most fun I ever had with my clothes on, but it could get pretty scary when you had a cowboy behind you. Kind of like the B-52 air refueling scene at the beginning of the movie Dr. Strangelove that Buff was all over the place.


11 posted on 03/28/2010 4:59:33 PM PDT by KC-10A BOOMER (Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War!)
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To: sonofstrangelove
Key Brothers Set Record With 27 Day Flight - 653 hours, 34 minutes - That Still Stands Today
12 posted on 03/28/2010 5:38:15 PM PDT by Red_Devil 232 (VietVet - USMC All Ready On The Right? All Ready On The Left? All Ready On The Firing Line!)
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To: scoobysnak71

Boomer’s wearing a Beaver hat.


13 posted on 03/28/2010 6:06:55 PM PDT by Erasmus (The Last of the Bohicans)
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To: KC-10A BOOMER
I presume you knew the Blackbird was full when you saw the fuel streaming out of its wings.

≤}B^)

14 posted on 03/28/2010 6:09:00 PM PDT by Erasmus (The Last of the Bohicans)
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To: Erasmus

That is a correct statement he would always sweat fuel when getting full due to not having any fuel bladders. When he climbed up to altitude and went super-sonic the aircraft would seal itself. The SR-71 would leak about 1,000 lbs an hour on the deck (so the rumor goes).


15 posted on 03/28/2010 6:27:07 PM PDT by KC-10A BOOMER (Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War!)
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