D-IFFers, the SOP has to allow for no pre-flight face-to-face and simple standard minimum necessary RT. No people bleating their life stories away on the air-to-air frequency either - particularly boom operators! How many times over Iraq during Op Warden did we hear "Yeah, OK, well we'll givya as much as ya want on this plug, 'n y'all let us know if ya want more" and similar crap on the 'minimum comms' AAR frequencies?
The changes I continue to advocate are:
1. Unless the tanker has an operational need to direct otherwise, receivers given the 'clear join' call shall always join on the left. But if the tanker commander requires otherwise, he/she should be empowered to order 'clear join, echelon right'.
2. Fast jet receivers should always join where the pilots can see them, then stabilise (or stabilize) and call 'echelon' when ready to move astern. None of the 'if the tanker is known to carry rear facing observers' caveat to waive this- it should be a one rule fits all requirement. How is a receiver to know? Is the ALM/ARO in the KDC-10 a 'rearward facing observer'? Or in the RAAF 707? And what if he/she's busy with other receivers at the time? The only exception should be boom-only AAR with large receivers.
3. Any moves from one side to the other etc should only use 'echelon' and 'astern' as required. All moves to be directed by the tanker commander - although I understand that the boom mafia think that's their job in some forces....
4. Receivers should depart from 'echelon' (right) when 'clear to leave' is ordered.
'Reform' and 'Observation' should be $hitcanned! Immediately!!
Incidentally, none of this is new. It's what we used to do before 1990 (although back then it was 'depart' rather than 'leave') and worked fine then, so why not now?
But hey, I don't do it any more - just teach it on the ground. But I hate having to teach garbage!!
And back to the thread - yes, the A310 is indeed a mature design. But it makes a very efficient and affordable tanker tranpsort! There are things I would change if I could - fitting a fifth ACT, another TACAN, Link 16 and increasing the MTOW to 164 tonnes for example.
Last edited by BEagle; 24th Jun 2007 at 20:43.