A lonely B-1B Lancer flying a mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Southern Afghanistan, refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron on Nov. 6, 2013.
The video is particularly interesting as it lets you understand how difficult maneuvering such a large bomber in the proper position to enable air-to-air refueling can be. And keep that position is a bit tricky.
Note the B-1 seemingly going into (minimum?) afterburner regime shortly after finishing the refueling operation, while breaking off the tanker.
David Cenciotti is a freelance journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written four books.
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6 Comments
very cool
Very cool indeed. The marks on the receptacle where it looks like prior refueling attempts missed and scraped against the fuselage were very interesting, how much damage a missed connection could do.
Noticed that, too. Seems the highlight reels of in-air refueling never show the misses. You can totally see the past failed attempts on this B-1B.
Bad weather, night…..
Awesome! And locals t’boot. the 128th Air Refueling Wing out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
David, big fan of the site and really enjoy your content. However, if I could make one request, it would be that you please link to the original photos as they make for fantastic desktop backgrounds and the reduced resolution just don’t do them justice. Thanks and keep up the great work.
very cool
Very cool indeed. The marks on the receptacle where it looks like prior refueling attempts missed and scraped against the fuselage were very interesting, how much damage a missed connection could do.
Noticed that, too. Seems the highlight reels of in-air refueling never show the misses. You can totally see the past failed attempts on this B-1B.
Bad weather, night…..
Awesome! And locals t’boot. the 128th Air Refueling Wing out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
David, big fan of the site and really enjoy your content. However, if I could make one request, it would be that you please link to the original photos as they make for fantastic desktop backgrounds and the reduced resolution just don’t do them justice. Thanks and keep up the great work.