Tanker clear to contact … issue (?)
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I’ve been training a lot with AAR recently and I don’t really understand how tanker give the clearance to contact.
Training doc says:
“Before taking fuel you will need to establish a stable pre-contact position. This position needs to be held for a few seconds to be recognized by the boomer. You’ll need to be 50 feet below at 30° down from the tanker.”In many of my attempts i’ve been if front of the boom for even a minute without clearance.
Is it mandatory to have the Air Refuel door open to have clearance or you can open it after?Here you can see an example from 5:05 to 6:20
Other non-related thing: is there a way to know the tanker’s TACAN channel in the briefing page?
I have some problem to understand the channel that the AWACS give me :uham: -
Be closer. Place then gun cross on the boom end. Stabilize.
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At at or inside of 10 nm call the tanker for fuel …. Y-1.
Prepare to take fuel … Open Refuel door (required); snooze radar, lights on, master arm off, DED fuel page open (all optional).
When given “Cleared to pre-contact” clearance, move to pre-contact position. Do as DJ says … gun cross on the boom tip, boom tip right up to the windscreen and stabilize.
When given clearance, move forward to contact position. Fly the lights. When the lights go out, stabilize … boom operator is trying to connect.
When connected, fly the lights.
Edit:
Closure rate … 100 knots at 1nm (i.e. 50 knots at 1/2 nm, etc.)
Y-2 you should not need. Press Y-1 at the appropriate time and everything else should be ‘automatic’ … no Y-2.
The correct distance is at about 5:20 - 5:23, but you’re too low … gun cross on the boom.
At 5:43, if you stabilize, you’d probably be cleared.
Also TACAN (iirc): first two tankers get 29Y and 63Y … after that sequential, I think, 64Y, 65Y, etc.
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Thanks for the answers!
I think I’ve understood all!