Tanker won't clear me to contact position in the Hornet?(Viper is fine)

Lymark

Is there a magic spot where I need to be in order to trigger the contact position clearance? Saying ‘stabilized and ready’ would only give me ‘roger’. That said, If I were to say ‘done refueling’ and re-press '‘stabilized and ready’ immediately, the tanker would sometimes give me the contact clearance, though he’d most likely hitting/killing me with the bloom afterward.

Any advice?

Agave_Blue

@Lymark:

Is there a magic spot where I need to be in order to trigger the contact position clearance? ….

Short answer, Yes. And, imho, it’s more difficult to find and a narrower window than flying the F-16.

In the upper right of the HUD is a circle with a cross in it (I think it’s some kind of HUD alignment aid). Put that on the tip of the boom and fly to correct distance behind the tanker.

Best place to look is YouTube for BMS refueling vids and see what the sight picture looks like.

Here are a couple that might help.