From a receiver pilot's viewpoint, the Victor was probably the worst tanker we ever had! But only because the Mk 20 pods at low tanker fuel weights couldn't keep up with the offload requirements of an F4!
The Vulcan was a very nice, stable platform to prod - the only mildly disorientating thinhg was the 2 underwing anti-colls gave the impression (at night) that you were further aay from the drogue than you really were. The MFI wardrobe HDU housing wasn't the best - and I once prodded a Vulcan drogue and the HDU failed to take up the slack properly, leading to a large travelling wave coming back down the hose towards me! Fortunately I disconnected quickly before it did so, else it would have taken the probe tip! But a rewind and trail fixed it and we got our gas!
I prodded the F4 against Victor, Vulcan, KC-135 (+BDA) and KC-10. In order of preference, I'd put the Vulcan and KC-10 equal first, then the Victor - but the KC-135 (+BDA) a very distant last!
I never prodded the VC10 against the Victor, but witnessed quite a few attempts from the co-pilots seat. The vibration, buffeting and trim changes involved were considerable and must have had a considerable adverse effect on a/c fatigue consumption!
With the number of stickies being something of an issue to some folk, perhaps the 'Vulcan' and 'Victor' threads could be combined into a single "Were you in the V-force" sticky?
Last edited by BEagle; 22nd Apr 2004 at 07:25.