Having finally ditched Sky my viewing has become much more diverse. As a consequence I stumble upon many long lost programmes one of which is
Steve Canyon on Plex.
The mission in Ser 1 Ep1 is described as
'an actual mission flown by the US Air Force, all information, material and incidents contained herein are now declassified' and shows three Convair 102 Delta Dagger being trialled to be towed by a B-29 Superfortress in order to increase the state of intercept readiness by hooking up, fuelling up and closing down their engines.
All well and good, it's TV, but then as if by magic, I see (get fed) an Instagram post about six KC-135s escorting 24 F-4s across the Atlantic to Germany in 1983, when one of the F-4s developed problems including losing one engine, with it ending up being ' towed 'to shore' thereby saving the aircraft and two crew.
Knowing what little I know about air to air refuelling, this surely isn't really possible due to the breakaway systems in place.....or is it! Could there actually be an override and strong enough latch on & hose system for these very circumstances? Is the central station stronger that the outboards for example?
Rather than delve into interwebery rabbit holes, I thought putting it out here for those that know to pass on their experience and knowledge to be the best way to get the gen on this.
Expecting a very short two lettered thread... Thanks all.