Originally Posted by
F-16GUY
Why would this be an issue? Like any other rejoin to any position, astern or to the wing, you always put your flight path marker below, beside or behind to aircraft you are joining, until very close and close to co-speed. If you hit it while on your way to the astern position, you would probably also hit it if cleared to the inside wing during a turning rejoin....
As with everything, it’s not an issue if you don’t screw up. The point is that a straight join to an astern position provides more opportunity to screw up than a turning join or a straight join to echelon, especially as the final stage of a probe-and-drogue join involves a climb to co-altitude. This naturally encourages the flight path marker to be placed a little closer to the tanker than is probably the case when joining to the boom waiting position.