Aerial Refueling Gone Wrong

[tomahawk6]

http://www.strategypage.com/gallery/articles/military_photos_20066402853.asp  :

 

[Jantor]

Looks like he got away with it   I'll bet the pilot will have a hard time living that one down later on. :blotto:

 

[Kendrick]

Wow good thing it didn't take out a rotor blade.  Could've been pretty bad.  I foresee dirty underwear.

 

[geo]

whoopsie!
hope that his base was nearby.

 

[Bert]

Thats an engineering problem. Too much flex in the nozzle/airframe.... stupid rotor
blades. 

Could tie the aerospace engineer to the fuel nozzle interface then do the
bouncy bouncy and see what solution he'll come up with.

 

[Cloud Cover]

They actually seem to be moving at a pretty good clip as well. Would that be a factor?

 

[Bert]

Seems to be excessive vertical rocking motion of the helicopter.  The fuel nozzle boom flexs
up as the heli pilot moves forward and up, tilting the rotor blades down.  The extreme movement
puts the boom up within orientation of the main rotors.  Perhaps the pilot
overacted causing the situation that requires move level flight, but the boom flex is interesting
relative to the rest of the aircraft. 

 

[Jantor]

Here is another short clip of an aircraft having some trouble getting gas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWCGRlcZC1I&search=

 

[Kirkhill]

I'm not seeing much flex in the boom but what I am seeing is the helo pilot having trouble getting the boom into the basket.  The basket then seems to bounce up towards the helo's rotors which causes the pilot to try to lift out of the way of the basket and save his rotors.  However the lifting motion results in the rotors moving from being parallel to the fuselage and the boom to being pitched forward so that they intersect the line of the extended boom.  And as to the speed, I seem to remember reading that for this manoeuver to work the CH-53s have to be flying flat out while the KC-130s are just above stall speed.

 

[1feral1]

  I foresee dirty underwear.

I agree, my heart nearly skipped a beat watching that!

Cheers,

Wes

 

[Haletown]

in related news . .  . the second time they have lost a boom in flight.  They need better quality velcro or 100mph tape.


EADS Tanker Loses Boom Over Spain
Aviation Week & Space Technology, by Amy Butler

Original Article

Posted By:GOPJihad, 9/11/2012 12:25:51 PM

An Airbus Military A330-based Multirole Tanker Transport bound this month for delivery to the United Arab Emirates lost its refueling boom during a checkout flight over Spain. The incident occurred Sept. 10 at about 7:30 pm local time. No one on the ground or in the flight crew was injured and an Airbus Military spokesman says that the boom separated cleanly at a mechanical joint, leaving minimal damage to the actual aircraft.

http://www.silobreaker.com/eads-tanker-loses-boom-over-spain-5_2265969240433492044

 

[dimsum]

Weird.  I think RAAF's 33 Sqn (flying the A330 MRTT) also lost one a while back, in the same circumstances?

 

[FoverF]

And as to the speed, I seem to remember reading that for this manoeuver to work the CH-53s have to be flying flat out while the KC-130s are just above stall speed.

I seem to recall thinking the same thing, but then I stumbled across this a while ago...

Cool, huh?

 

[eurowing]

Cool?  Understatement much!  I'm for WOW! Perhaps with a pre WOW colourful metaphor.

 

[Kirkhill]

Yes, but did they scratch the paint?

 

[Pat in Halifax]

That is amazing! The only thing missing is an AOR refuelling a couple frigates/destroyers on the sea surface below!
(Maybe one of the IT weenies on here can 'paint' that in!?)