Flew in an all weather attack squadron out of Iwakuni many years go. Also have refueled from kc130s many times and also have a small amount of flight time as a pilot of kc130 and have flown refueling missions. I am curious to know if anyone knows why the accident happened at 0200? Suspect that this was not local time? We often scheduled refueling refresher training for dusk in order to get day and night QUALS in one sortie.
the normal routine for refueling evolution is; 1000 FOOT VERTICAL separation until visual, then cleared to observation position, 1000 foot above and 1000 foot abeam the most rearward tanker in the echelon, if multiple tankers, then cleared to the stabilize position behind a specific tanker and drogue, then cleared to plug.
on the kc130, we always had chutes. They were never worn except possibly by the crewmembers assigned as observers at the rear doors. These guys got to see some real airshows. I recall a flight between Hawaii and wake island. I was flying a6 intruder. The tankers had to work to find a spot for a track between CBs. Even after that we were in and out of cloud, at night and vertigo was impossible to avoid. Add to that, the aircraft bow wave causes the drogue to deflect away and you have to aim at the point youthink it is going to be. It is not easy.
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Last edited by abdunbar; 9th Dec 2018 at 18:12.
Reason: Typo