Rebuilding capabilities!
Sweet.
June 26, 2008 - Cold Lake, Alberta
The Air Force will soon have strategic air-to-air refuelling (SAAR) capability View of a modified CC-150 Polaris (or Airbus A-310) refuelling a CF-18 Hornet. The CC-150T (tanker) aircraft is being tested and evaluated at 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta for this purpose.
Canada’s Air Force has not had this capability since it retired its fleet of CC-137 (Boeing 707) aircraft in 1997.
Photo : Master Corporal Paul Green
posted by Babbling Brooks at 12:59 p.m.
4 Comments:
I was under the impression that Canada has kept air to air refueling capability via the KCC130 Hercs in 435 Squadron ??
Nice having a fast jet aircraft back on the flight line.
The key word in the capability is "Strategic," Fred. Technically a CF-18 can refuel from a Herc. But the Herc is at full throttle and the Hornet is near stall (yes, I'm exaggerating a tiny bit).
But it's not practical to use a Herc to deploy the -18's overseas, for example. The Polaris now gives us that option.
Thanks Babbling--sweet indeed.
Mark
Ottawa
bb, can we assume that the CAF has kept it's fighter pilots proficient in air-to-air-refueling with jet tankers via practice with the USAF, RAF in NATO war games, NORAD ops, etc? With a little help between Allies, that oughtn't be a big problem to solve.
(I know in the USAF, many mid-air refuelings are actually only partial loads or even some fuel-less hookups and disconnects, just for practice to maintain proficiency. Done within the regularly scheduled training flights, no extra bucks are spent.
If the pilot is proficient in the process, they don't even actually need to "pass gas", as the tanker crews call it.)
Post a Comment
<< Home