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 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 five books and contributed to many more ones.
The incredible story of a lucky SR-71 pilot who survived to a Blackbird disintegration at Mach 3+ Built as a strategic reconnaissance aircraft able to fly at 88,000 feet and Mach 3, the iconic Lockheed SR-71 required […]
An Afghan sandstorm can literally turn day in night in a matter of seconds and these images show what the event looks like as seen from inside the cockpit of a C-130J Hercules waiting to […]
The MH-47G pilot took part in rescue mission of Norwegian Special Forces in Afghanistan in 2019. He’s the first foreign recipient of a Norwegian medal since WWII. A few days ago, as the U.S. Army […]
