Page 8 - Volume 19 Number 11

There was one F-16C Fighting Falcon receiving fuel fulfill currency requirements, and also to demonstratefrom the KC-135’s refueling boom and anotherwaiting. Endurance of the F-16 is limited to about 2.5 hours, even less when engaged in a dogfight. So there was almost always a receiver aircraft in queue, waiting to get tanked up. The 3-4 minutes needed to refuel can seem like an eternity when you’re the one waiting to receive with little fuel in the tanks. Sometimes the fill-ups need to be sequenced, giving the airplanes with the least fuel a chance before everyone else is topped off. Then it’s back to the fight.Today’s flight was a training mission, with the dogfights rehearsed and strict altitude and conflict limits established to virtually assure no accidents. The two KC-135s and three F-16Cs assigned were dispatched to an anchor point in New Hampshire airspace to6 • TWIN & TURBINEcapability to community and business leaders from the region. It was Boss-Lift day, a chance for employers to experience the important contribution Air Guard members make, serving the country.“Boss-Lift”, known internally as Tanker Day, is not just a for-show event, however. The training is real; part of the normal Air Force readiness program, unmatched by any other country. Within hours of the 9/11/2001 attacks, Stratotankers from the eastern USA were on their way to assigned points. While many different forces and weapon systems were employed during the response, KC-135’s were pivotal to making the operation work. Fighter and bomber endurance would have been a real issue without the KC-135, a flying gas station with as much as 200,000 lbs of fuel in its wing and belly tanks.NOVEMBER 2015Tanker DayAir to Air Re By Adam Alpertf