Refueling Technology
The Flying Boom Explained
How the flying boom works: the boom operator, ruddervators, nozzle and receptacle, and why the US Air Force chose a rigid pipe for its heavy fleet.
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Offload is an independent journal on air-to-air refueling, tanker aircraft past and present and NATO planning methods and ATP-56 standards for enthusiasts.
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On the flight line / Aircraft and operations
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Refueling Technology
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Tanker Aircraft
03
Missions and Standards
01 / SYSTEMS
Refueling Technology
How fuel moves between aircraft in flight: the flying boom, probe-and-drogue systems, receptacles, pods and the engineering behind every contact.
Refueling Technology
Probe and Drogue Explained
How probe-and-drogue refueling works: the hose drum unit, the basket, the pilot probe, closure rates and why navies and most of NATO prefer it.
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Refueling Technology
Fuel Offload: Giving Gas at Altitude
How much fuel a tanker can really give away: offload capacity, reserve rules, fuel graphs and how planners compute the fuel a receiver actually gets.
Read the article02 / AIRCRAFT
Tanker Aircraft
Meet past and present tanker aircraft from piston Stratofreighters to the KC-46 Pegasus and A330 MRTT, with roles, conversions and operators explained.
Tanker Aircraft
The First Refueled Flights
From wing-walking fuel cans in 1921 to the Question Mark endurance record of 1929 and wartime trials: how aerial refueling was invented.
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Tanker Aircraft
Cold War Tankers
How the Cold War built the tanker fleet: the KB-29, the piston KC-97 too slow for jets, and the KC-135 Stratotanker that still flies today.
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Tanker Aircraft
KC-46 Pegasus
The KC-46 Pegasus: boom and drogue in one aircraft, the Remote Vision System and its fixes, and what it replaces in the US Air Force fleet.
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Tanker Aircraft
KC-10 Extender
The KC-10 Extender: a DC-10 turned tanker-freighter, its boom and drogue pods, its record career and its retirement in 2024.
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Tanker Aircraft
A330 MRTT and Voyager Explained
The Airbus A330 MRTT and the RAF Voyager: one airframe, boom or pods, airline cabin or medevac, and a growing list of operators worldwide.
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Tanker Aircraft
MQ-25 and the Unmanned Tanker
The MQ-25 Stingray: the first carrier-based unmanned tanker, its test history, and what autonomous refueling means for future air wings.
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Missions and Standards
How air refueling missions are planned and standardized: rendezvous geometry, anchor areas, NATO ATP-56 procedures and the safety record.
Missions and Standards
Computerizing AAR Mission Planning
From manual fuel graphs to planning software: how air refueling mission planning was computerized in the 1990s and what planners compute today.
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Missions and Standards
ATP-56 and ARSAG: One Procedure for All
How NATO made twenty air forces refuel the same way: the ATP-56 manual, the ARSAG working group, signal lights, radio silence and standard contacts.
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Missions and Standards
Buddy Refueling on the Carrier Deck
Buddy refueling: how one fighter carries a refueling pod to top up another, from the KA-6 era to Super Hornets keeping the carrier air wing flying.
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Missions and Standards
Accidents and Safety Lessons
What refueling accidents taught the tanker community: the Palomares collision of 1966, boom strikes, hose whip and the procedures written afterwards.
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Missions and Standards
Refueling Beyond the Military
Civilian air refueling: endurance record stunts, experimental airliner schemes and Metrea, the first commercial tanker company working for air forces.
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