A Day in the life of a Boom Operator...Part 2- The PICS!!!

I just saw this and i thought you guys would get a kick out of it, although its on facebook, im hoping you can all see it.

Near Miss Refueling FAIL!

Love and harmony
Whateva

reply to post by Whateva69


Yeah, I've seen that video before. Both crews were incredibly lucky that they missed a collision

Thanks for putting it up again!

reply to post by Zaphod58


The extended duration U2 flights were causing the pilots to develop some type of medical condition due to the extreme environment they function in. I don't remember the specifics but its there to find on the web.

Comparing U2 flights to what the B2's do is silly, but so is arguing with the boom operator who had obviously seriously high security clearance about the external stores he photographed.

reply to post by Drunkenparrot


It's called Acceleration Atelactasys (don't blame me on the spelling, it's a medical term and no one can spell those). They see it in F-22 pilots, and in U-2 pilots even on short term missions. It's basically when the nodules in your lungs collapse due to the oxygen at that altitude. With the U-2 pilots it's not as critical, because they don't fly again for a few days and have time to recover. It is seen a lot more on their longer missions, and can cause hypoxia type symptoms.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by Whateva69

 

Yeah, I've seen that video before. Both crews were incredibly lucky that they missed a collision

Thanks for putting it up again!

edit on 5/25/2013 by Zaphod58 because: (no reason given)

The story is that a new Aircraft Commander was in the seat and the IP was in the other seat. When the AC screwed up in the flight envelope, the IP grabbed the stick and didn't realize how much trim the AWACS had. So when he went nose down he didn't do it enough which caused the oscillation. Raised the pucker factor of the boom from 8 to 13. lol

Some Heavy aircraft!!!!!

Diego Garcia Flight Line


KC-46 with no boom pod (CG)



E-3D AWACS (England) Notice the probe as well...





E-3C









RC-135



C-17




















More to come...

reply to post by boomer135


Diego Garcia, where they land B-1s after forgetting to put the landing gear down.

reply to post by Whateva69


Holy pogo stick ! Evasive menuevers much.

Bitchen thread !

reply to post by Zaphod58


See the B-2 hangers???

Short story revised. I'll repost the pics from A day in the life of a Boom part 1, that photobucket decided to edit...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Cool Video...

what is the world is that tall skinny 'Pole' with what looks like a HUGE inverted dome at the top? What kind of airplane has that? I thought at first it was an observation tower but I saw smaller ones on the front of the planes. Is it .... well it can't be for communcation because surely the pilots have radios in the planes or on their ears.

It's too HUGE. I would think it would crash the plane. What is it for? What IS it? It looks like a giant huge chapagne glass with a HUGE long thin stem.

?????

here is one of them from the first page.
i799.photobucket.com...

it's like..... some are attached to planes, but this one is just hanging out way up in the sky while various planes from commercial to 'fighter' (unsure names) are just going right below it or next to it. Is it an observation deck?

And here is a pic of the same thing with the commuter plane almost touching it D:
i799.photobucket.com...
planes can't fly that close... so help? what is this?

Hey Boomer,

Quick Question: In the airforce, once you become a pilot or part of a crew for X aircraft, do you continuing using the same piece of equipment? For example, does a jet fighter pilot use the same Jet for how ever many numbers of years and In your case, will you remain with your current crew and aircraft you currently work on, or is it common to switch aircraft on a regular basis?

My reason for asking is I was curious if you work with the same piece of equipment long enough to learn the unique nuances that comes with it.

Similar to the average joe saying his car has a tendency to pull to left at 100km/h

Edit to add: I love your thread.

reply to post by sarra1833


It's the refueling boom. It extends below the tail of the tanker and plugs into the receptacle of the receiver and transfers fuel from the tanker. That way the receiver doesn't have to land for fuel.

I'll post some external pics later from my laptop.

reply to post by MDDoxs


To avert for Boomer, no. A fighter pilot may be assigned the same aircraft while with that squadron, but when he leaves, he gets a different bird at his new squadron. Not all squadrons keep the pilot with the same jet but most try to. Large aircraft may have crews from a totally different base flying them. An example is the McConnell bird that was list recently. The aircraft was based at McConnell, but the crew flying at the time of the crash was from Fairchild.

reply to post by MDDoxs


Yeah we fly a different aircraft everyday. But at a wing where you have 20-30 jets at, you get to know what jets tend to do when they are flying. For example, something with booms, during OEF, OIF, etc, we knew which jets leaked hydralic fuel all over the window in the back making it a pain to refuel another plane.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Thanks for the info. I would have thought developing a intimate knowledge of your aircraft over a prolonged period of time would be extremely advantageous as you know exactly what your unique aircraft limits are.

Is this same practice for all the branches of the military? For example, what about a captain of a ship, do they not hold command for quite a lot of time?

reply to post by boomer135


Thanks boom, see my above post for my other questions.

Originally posted by MDDoxs
reply to post by Zaphod58

 

Thanks for the info. I would have thought developing a intimate knowledge of your aircraft over a prolonged period of time would be extremely advantageous as you know exactly what your unique aircraft limits are.

Is this same practice for all the branches of the military? For example, what about a captain of a ship, do they not hold command for quite a lot of time?

To my knowledge, a skipper of say a carrier is only in that position for a couple years before moving on to like Carrier Strike Group Commander or something. Zaph will know more about that than me.

With a KC-135 though, the limits of the jet are pretty much the same from jet to jet. Fighters are different

reply to post by MDDoxs


You tend to stay in one location for several years at a time usually. With non-pilot officers you work your way up through staff positions, and will stay with that position for anywhere from a year, to as long as three or four years depending on openings above you, and promotion boards. The average is about two years or so. The Navy, for surface commanders, usually start out with a smaller class of ship and work their way up through classes, and may eventually captain a carrier before being bumped to admiral.