
The following interesting video depicts a B-2 stealth bomber from the 509th Bomb Wing, at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, being refueled in-flight by a KC-135 on Jan. 23, 2013, over the Pacific Ocean.
The Spirit was involved in a training mission out of Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, where two such batwing bombers are based in support of in-theater training objectives.
The video is also interesting for showing the inboard elevons of the batwing continuously moving to keep the aircraft in the proper position for refueling. The inboard elevons are just two of the Spirit’s control surfaces which includes a two sets of drag rudders and speed brakes on both wings, near the wingtips, and the Gust Load Alleviation System on the plane’s “beaver tail” assembly.
Last week, a B-2 out of Whiteman AFB performed a round-trip deterrence mission over South Korea as a sign of US commitment to the defense of the regional allies following the threatening claims by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.
Air-to-air refueling just looks wrong at the best of times, would love to see an external vid of this.
We got to see the elevons doing their thang but not the fuel receiver disappearing back into stealth mode, shame.
Am I the only one annoyed with the continuous references to the B-2 as the “batwing bombers”? It makes the article look amateurish. At least 5 other articles in this website refer to the bomber with this name. It is called the B-2 SPIRIT.