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Non-Skiing TR: Flying Aboard a KC-135

Willy

aka Goldmember
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Nov 9, 2015
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258
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Spokane/Schweitzer
I have the privilege to serve as an Honorary Commander at our nearby Air Force base (Fairchild) which is a refueling tanker base. Yesterday, I was part of a group of twelve who were fortunate enough to take flight and be part of a training mission over the Pacific Northwest. We left Spokane at 7:45 and went south-west to Central Oregon where we met up with four F-15's and refueled them. We then headed north toward Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Southern Puget Sound and met with three C-17 cargo planes and headed east to central Montana, then back to Fairchild. All this was over a 5 1/2 hour trip. Here are some shots of the flight:

First class cabin on a KC-135; lots of leg room, doughnuts for the morning and Jimmy John's for lunch and plenty of room to walk around.
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Beautiful day over Oregon with the Three Sisters to gander at.
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One of our first customers, an F-15 pulling alongside to take a look. It's not everyday you see this out of the window while in flight.

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Settled in at the gas station.
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Our pilots taking us over to Montana for a little fun with the C-17's.
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One of our last customers for the day, a C-17 pulls in and mates up with the KC-135. What was interesting is that the C-17 is a very large plane and puts out a large bow-wave. When it got close, the tail end of the KC-135 would raise and the wave would feel like it rippled from the back of the plane to the front. If the auto-pilot kicks out, the 135 pilot would pull up and hit the throttle while the C-17 dipped under us. It was a little nerve-wracking for us who hadn't been there before but just another move that all parties involved were repeatedly trained for. Fascinating process.
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I thank all of our service folks and veterans for what they do for us. Having the opportunity to see this up close was really fun and educational. When you consider that there were several million dollars worth of equipment weighing around 200 tons, including 100 tons of jet fuel, traveling at 265 mph at 20,000 feet, thirty feet apart and connected with a 4" diameter tube full of streaming jet fuel, you have to ask: What could go wrong? Well, lots of things. It's the dedicated training of these folks that make it seem so seamless and inconsequential that we just kind of take it all for granted. This truly was seeing art in motion. A really fun day!
 

Monique

bounceswoosh
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
10,561
Location
Colorado
@Philpug pretty sure it has to do with permissions on the album.

I went to the page source, copied out an image URL, pasted it into the browser and got:


Pugski - Ski talk at a higher level - Error
You do not have permission to view media within this album.


 
Thread Starter
TS
Willy

Willy

aka Goldmember
Industry Insider
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Posts
258
Location
Spokane/Schweitzer
Got it.... rookie error. I changed the permissions to everyone. Should be visible now. Please let me know if not.

I logged out and looked. They're now there. Thanks @Monique.
 

Monique

bounceswoosh
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Posts
10,561
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Colorado
Thanks @Willy - very cool!
 

pete

not peace but 2 Beers!
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Iowa
@Willy Great pics and way cool you were Honorary Commander for the flight.

KC-135 is a pretty old bird but still performs great. It's replacement the KC-46 will allow easier refueling even at night though a remote vision system using visible and infrared. Well aimed at the youth familiar with video games.

What made you Commander? Retired Airforce?
 

Jwrags

Aka pwdrhnd
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Joined
Nov 17, 2015
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2,003
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Portlandia
To keep it ski related, for those not in the know, that is Mt. Bachelor to the left of the Three Sisters in the picture above :daffy:.
 
Thread Starter
TS
Willy

Willy

aka Goldmember
Industry Insider
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Posts
258
Location
Spokane/Schweitzer
@Willy Great pics and way cool you were Honorary Commander for the flight.

KC-135 is a pretty old bird but still performs great. It's replacement the KC-46 will allow easier refueling even at night though a remote vision system using visible and infrared. Well aimed at the youth familiar with video games.

What made you Commander? Retired Airforce?

I'm actually Honorary Commander for the 336th Training Group or more commonly known as SERE training; the Survival School. It's a three-year appointment and is at the discretion of the group commander. I also serve as Civic Leader for the group to AETC headquarters during that time. My connection is as an active member of Forward Fairchild, a local community advocacy group on behalf of Fairchild. I've been involved with that for twelve years and support the base on issues where they interact with local affairs. Issues such as BRAC, perimeter encroachment by development are the biggest aspects but other things crop up that we advocate for.
 

Jim Kenney

Travel Correspondent
Team Gathermeister
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Nov 27, 2015
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Nice post! I support the USAF at JBAB. Nice aerial recon work by Jwrags to point out Mt. Bachelor:)
 

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