Originally Posted by TBM-Legend
A friend of mine flies RAAF Super Hornets and he tells me that they operate in Iraq always with retractable probe extended...
Wouldn't flying with a retractable probe open all the time be problematic, isn't there a limiting speed? I imagine the door which covers the opening takes quite a battering if the probe is extended for the duration of the flight! Fixed refuelling probes are all aerodynamically shaped (apart from the Israeli and Spanish AF lash-ups they used on some of their F-4's!) to allow for the airflow...
-RP