Bad Day for the AWACS

Best part is... From what I hear, AF heavy pilots don't start learning to tank until after they're aircraft commanders... Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Edit... Take back the comment... As someone stated on the YouTube comments, looks like the tanker is at fault a bit. Looks like the autopilot kicked off for some reason and the tanker pitched nose down. In fact, looks like the nose down trim was out of whack, leading to the AP failure.

Watch the horizon in the top left of the screen after the disconnect...
 
Best part is... From what I hear, AF heavy pilots don't start learning to tank until after they're aircraft commanders... Someone, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Well to be fair, I didn't learn to start tanking until I was an aircraft commander either.....but that (the signing for the jet part) came on my 5th flight in the -18 so maybe a little different
 
Well to be fair, I didn't learn to start tanking until I was an aircraft commander either.....but that (the signing for the jet part) came on my 5th flight in the -18 so maybe a little different

Yeah, a little bit... In the E-6, student pilots at the rag have a syllabus flight or two with tanking involved. Then they continue training as 3P, 2P, and eventually AC.

As we understand the AF side, they go through training as a pilot, up to the AC level, then have to return to another AR school. So, most pilots doing AR are at least O-3 or O-4 pilots with a few hours under their belt.
 
Looked to me like the tanker did pitch down right after the WACKER charged the boom there. In my experience when the '135 kicks off the autopilot they climb, not dive...but fish314 would know best. Might be different with an E-3 back there vs a fighter. That bow wake might have something to do with it.

I can't imagine how much negative G that AWACS pushed in trying to get away. Poor scope dopes in the back better have been strapped in!

To me, that looked like they were 20-30 feet from being two big fireballs.
 
Hacker any possibility that the initial bang from the AWAC trying to attach could have caused an autopilot disconnect?
 
Hacker any possibility that the initial bang from the AWAC trying to attach could have caused an autopilot disconnect?

You really need to ask Fish that. Hacker and I wouldn't have any idea, and truthfully really don't care, about what tanker TOADs do in their daily life.

:)
 
That connect from the boom wasn't anything abnormal... In fact, looked like the standard first plug disconnect.
 
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