Interesting footage.
Most of the 'alarming' shots seem to involve the C-160 tanker and cowboy receivers. Although the last video shows what looks like poor hose tension control - presumably from some ancient Sargent Fletcher piece of sh...., piece of kit. As was also to be seen in another yoof-tube clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGMlriUTab4 involving an AMX...
Because the refuelling operator failed to notice errant hose behaviour and stop the receiver, a contact was made against a hose whose tension control system had failed. Hence the hose whip and loss of drogue... The AMX ended up with a cracked canopy and a myriad of skin punctures from the 15m of steel wire still attached to the drogue.
In 20 years of AAR I only refused 1 receiver and almost another. The 'almost' was a Luftwaffe Tornado ECR which developed a severe roll divergence - we later established it was the squadron boss who had been 'too busy' to attend the briefing..
The one I
did refuse was a FAF Mirage over Chateauroux, who had no idea what the signal lights meant...
AAR needs to be formal as it is the
only routinely flown formation exercise which doesn't require a pre-flight formation brief. So everyone must stick to the rules - unlike that tw
.at rolling inverted off the Transall.
The world's only 21st century probe and drogue tanker in service, the A310MRTT, has a very stable drogue system thanks to extensive aerodynamic improvements developed by Elbeflugzeugwerke during the early flight test campaign. Unlike that ridiculously nutating C-160 hose.....
As for the CH-53? Yes, a PIO after a 'basket chase'. Fortunately the Spams make those aircraft out of strong stuff, so he didn't lose a blade and die.