KC135 tug?
I have recently seen a programme on television on the KC135 during which an account was made of a KC!35 towing an F4 that had had an engine failure during an Atlantic crossing and was unable to maintain height. According to the programme the F4 was plugged into the boom and then towed to landfall and a suitable airfield.
Does the KC135 boom have the facility to lock into the receiver's refuelling receptacle with such strength that it can tow an F4? If so how does a receiver normally break contact? I assume too that there is some form of weak link in the boom assembly to protect the tanker whichmust make towing a delicate manoeuvre. The other somewhat surprising mention in this account was that this F4 (J79 powered) could not maintain height even at 3000' on a single engine and had to be eased back up to 6000' as part of the tow. Most of my F4 time was on the Spey-engined variants where this definitely was not an issue and I don't recall it being an issue from my time on a J79 variant. In fairness this account did not elaborate on the nature of the emergency other than the single engine failure. I am not challenging the veracity of this story but I am very curious as to how it waa achieved mechanically.