AEROSPACE PERCEPTIONS HAS MOVED!

 This is the legacy site of Aerospace Perceptions, and is no longer updated.

Aerospace Perceptions has a new home with some great new features.

The new website is easily reached via AerospacePerceptions.com 

I hope to see you there!

https://www.aerospaceperceptions.com

AEROSPACE PERCEPTIONS takes wing!

In the winter-spring lull before the 2024 air show season ramps up, Aerospace Perceptions is taking advantage of the downtime for a complete retooling of the website.

As a former IT system architect, I have teamed up with senior developer Travis Finlayson in pursuit of a vastly improved Aerospace Perceptions experience.

Under the covers, the website will reside on a completely different technical foundation, improving performance and reliability.

From a user experience perspective, the website will have a fresh, cleaner interface. It will be a more conducive home to new aerospace content, AP posts of the past, and an all-new gallery feature.

Stay tuned – the Aerospace Perceptions re-launch is just over the horizon! 

Long Time Coming

With Aerospace Perceptions delving into the realms of both aviation and spaceflight, Sierra Space have hit the sweet spot in interest with their Dream Chaser program – a lifting-body spaceplane. But it’s been a long time coming.

How long? It reminds me of when I was writing a book about early aerodynamic programs in motorsports. I went to interview several aerodynamicists at Chrysler’s headquarters who had previously worked at the company’s missile division in Alabama. When I arrived, I had to cool my heels because the wind tunnel was hosting several models that needed to be hidden – vehicles planned for five to ten years in the future.

The initial Dream Chaser concept, with a certain other well-known spaceplane in the background. Image: Sierra Space

When I covered STS-135 in 2011 – the final flight of the Space Shuttle orbiter Atlantis and the conclusion of that entire program – Sierra Nevada Corporation had a presence at Kennedy Space Center’s media operations with an early concept design of their Dream Chaser spaceplane. The spin-off Sierra Space Corporation was formed in 2021, and here we are now, just over a dozen years from the STS-135 mission. Dream Chaser is finally on the horizon of an actual mission.

An operation conception of Tenacity in orbital action. Image: Sierra Space

To get to this point it took tenacity, and that’s exactly the name Sierra Space chose for its first operational spaceplane, following up on engineering test vehicles. Tenacity - officially designated DC-101 Tenacity – was completed in November 2023.

Tenacity nearing completion of the vehicle construction phase. Photo: Sierra Space

Tenacity’s first voyage will be one that is earthbound, from Sierra Space’s Colorado headquarters to Ohio’s Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility. There the vehicle will undergo a series of environmental tests to prove its space-worthiness.

If all goes well, Tenacity will then initiate Dream Chaser space operations later this year as a cargo vehicle, supplying the International Space Station. Launched into orbit via a Vulcan Centaur rocket developed by United Launch Alliance, Tenacity will then return to earth upon completion of the ISS resupply, making use of its unique design to land on a conventional runway.

The planned crew configuration of a Dream Chaser Space System vehicle. The latest designs depict this DC-200 series spacecraft without the front windows seem in earlier conceptions. Image: Sierra Space

The planned near-future flight to the ISS will be the first outing of Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser Cargo System; crewed vehicles are planned to follow under the Dream Chaser Space System program, beginning in 2025.

 

For more on Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser efforts, please visit: 

https://www.sierraspace.com/dream-chaser-spaceplane/

N1SP

Delaware State Police helicopters N1SP and N2SP are a frequent presence in the vicinity of Aerospace Perceptions headquarters in New Castle, Delaware. Within the last week they’ve been seen here completing a medical evacuation two blocks away from AP HQ and providing security and surveillance for the arrival of President Joe Biden at New Castle’s airport last night.

N1SP in the late autumn skies above New Castle, Delaware. Photo: Frank Moriarty / Aerospace Perceptions

This morning, N1SP was the star of the show at the Good Will Fire Company’s annual open house in New Castle, arriving in a cloud of autumn leaves launched back into the sky by the rotors of the descending aircraft.

Thanks to these aviators and all the others across the nation who provide critical services to the population of our diverse country.

Tiger by the Tail

Country music legend Buck Owens had a smash hit in 1964 with the song “I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail.” That track always sprung to mind when I would see one of the United States Air Force’s most striking aircraft, the KC-135R Stratotanker designated 60-0366, clad in its bright tiger livery.

One of the most distinctive sights in the United States Air Force inventory.

It was just four years before Owens topped the music charts when this Stratotanker first flew, freshly constructed by Boeing Military Airplanes in 1960

Nearly  three decades ago, 60-0366 was assigned to aerial refueling duty with the 108^th Wing at McGuire Air Force base, now a key component of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Over the years since, one thing remained consistent: home base for this 135 was always New Jersey. Until last week.

A strategic decision has been made which sees the remaining KC-135 workhorse tankers that had been based at McGuire now reassigned to other facilities. But seeing these aircraft go is far more than just a reallocation of military resources. Air crews and maintainers have bonded with these legendary planes, and their departure demanded a ceremony in recognition of their service.

That gathering took place last week in a hangar at McGuire. And just outside, the final KC-135R stood ready to depart for a new home in Maine.

The 108^th Wing’s Fabrication Section rose to the occasion when it came to giving 60-0366 a bold new look.

This particular 135 – tail number 00366 – is one of the most distinctive of USAF aircraft, with its bright orange-and-black tiger livery honoring early aviator Captain Hobey Baker’s Princeton University heritage. Baker, a test pilot in the years immediately following his distinguished service in the first world war, was killed in a crash in 1918. Princeton’s association with tiger graphics carried over onto this KC-135 in Baker’s memory.

Credit where credit is due...

The guests assembled for the ceremony ranged from those on hand to welcome 00366 when it first arrived at McGuire to those who have most recently flown and maintained this aircraft. The walls of the hangar were adorned with memorabilia and artefacts heralding the 108^th Wing and its colorful association with the mascot of Hobey Baker's alma mater.

Flight crews, maintainers, and all associated with 60-0366 were happy to add their names to the roster of those saying farewell.

Following the traditional Presentation of Colors, National Anthem, and invocation, Senior Master Sergeant Donald Woods touched on many of the facts that make up tail 60-0366’s incredible history. This KC-135 was the 408^th Stratotanker to be built, and had flown in service to the USAF for more than four decades before it arrived at McGuire and was placed into the care of the 108^th Wing in October 2007. Involved in numerous global operations since that time, this aircraft has logged over 4500 flight hours.

Woods offered a fitting summary of the KC-135’s career: “To this aircraft I say, job well done!”

Brigadier General Patrick Kenndey – who served as commander of the New Jersey Air National Guard – then took the stage to introduce the final flight crew and maintainers for this auspicious occasion, followed by an additional appreciation for this aircraft and those who have served and do serve in the 108^th Wing.

The final flight team of crew members and maintainers proudly stand ready to power up 60-0366 for the aircraft’s final takeoff from McGuire.

Major General (Ret.) James McIntosh was then introduced as keynote speaker, reflecting on his time as commander at McGuire Air Force Base – a position that only came after more than 100 combat missions as KC-135 navigator during the Vietnam conflict and more than 6,400 flying hours total.

“I was privileged to be a crew member of the crew that brought the first KC-135 into McGuire,” McIntosh noted of the Stratotanker’s debut New Jersey arrival 32 years ago. “It’s my honor to be here today as we say goodbye to this airplane.”

Major General (Ret.) James McIntosh – former commander at McGuire Air Force Base - reflects on the KC-135’s long record of service flying from this facility.

Following a video commemorating the 108^th Wing and the KC-135, members of the 108^th Fabrication Section unveiled a stunning replica of KC-135R 60-0366 that will ensure memories are permanently reflected through this work of art.

The 108^th Wing Fabrication Section said farewell to 60-0366 in their own way, ensuring this aircraft will never be forgotten.

With the indoor ceremony complete, the hundreds of people on hand emerged into bright sunshine and the sound of 00366, fired up and ready to begin its final flight from McGuire. Forming a long, orderly line to the right of the KC-135, the witnesses to this occasion offered final salutes as the huge aircraft began to taxi toward its takeoff. Once airborne, the majestic Stratotanker circled the base and made a final pass at low altitude in farewell.

The 108^th Wing will now begin a transition to the newer Boeing KC-46 Pegasus tanker, even as talk heats up in the aerospace realm over concepts like autonomous aerial refueling. But those are visions for the future; for now, it’s entirely appropriate to focus on all those years of a job well done thanks to the enduring KC-135.

The KC-135R passes by hundreds of personnel offering up their final salutes to the aircraft.

On a last pass down the runways at McGuire, 60-0366 prepares for takeoff.

Wheels up as KC-135R 60-0366 powers into the skies above Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst for a final time.

All photos: Frank Moriarty/Aerospace Perceptions

Click on photos to see larger images.

Taking Out the Trash

Where man goes, waste follows. Call it garbage, trash, refuse, litter, rubbish – or even space junk.

Space junk usually becomes a hot topic only when there is some large object that finally must yield to gravity with its final landing spot largely unknown. Although the likelihood of a water impact is greatest, anxious eyes turn to the skies just in case.

National Geographic illustrated the clear and present danger of space debris with this ESA image in a feature article published in 2019. Image: European Space Agency

In reality, though, such high-profile encounters between worn-out satellites and our home planet are merely the tip of the proverbial iceberg. According to NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office, located at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, there are upwards of 500,000 marble-sized objects circulating in orbit, joined by millions of objects 1mm or smaller.

In early July The Washington Post wrote about the US Space Force’s quest to establish a military identity and identify what concrete responsibilities this newest branch of the Armed Forces of the United States will have. The article referred to low earth orbit tests of satellite destruction that have already been conducted by Russia and China, as well as speculation that any Chinese action against Taiwan will be predicated on the destruction of numerous satellites to hamper the defense of Taiwan by its own forces and allies.

Of course, any destruction of satellites is an act of creation: the generation of more space junk in low earth orbit.

A Canadian-built robotic manipulation arm on the International Space Station was pierced by an small errant object in 2021. It is not difficult to imagine a more severe outcome from a collision with a larger object. Photo: NASA/Canadian Space Agency

Putting aside the topic of satellite warfare, what to do about the problem that already exists? As might be expected with such a complex issue, opinions vary widely. There have been many proposals and ideas, some translated into proof-of-concept missions like Surrey Space Centre’s RemoveDEBRIS and Japanese company Astroscale’s ELSA-d.

At the moment, one of the most promising efforts taking concrete steps to mitigate the danger of debris in orbit is the ESA (European Space Agency) alliance with the Swiss company ClearSpace SA. They intend to target a VESPA payload adapter, a refrigerator-sized object that has remained in orbit since playing a role in a 2013 ESA Vega mission. Scheduled for 2026, the ClearSpace-1 mission will attempt to rendezvous with VESPA, capture the object, and guide it to a harmless destruction upon reentry to our atmosphere.

The ClearSpace unmanned vehicle is depicted capturing a dormant space object, a small step in the Herculean task of cleaning up Earth orbit. Image: ClearSpace

Ironically – and fully indicative of the urgency of ClearSpace’s mission - just a month ago the VESPA target was itself hit by a small piece space junk, the resulting debris from the collision adding to the amount of trackable objects already in orbit. ClearSpace is analyzing what impact the collision may have on its planned mission to capture and safely deorbit VESPA.

Although ClearSpace remains for now an imposing distance away from being able to reduce the threat of the hundreds of thousands of small objects crowding space, the start of ClearSpace-1 is far better than no action at all.

 

For more information, please visit:

ClearSpace: https://clearspace.today/

NASA Orbital Debris Program Office: https://www.orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/

Scientific Barnstorming

 In 1952, the Douglas Aircraft Company began work on a project that, six years later, had morphed into the DC-8, a four-engine jetliner that helped revolutionize air travel. Taking to the skies for the first time on May 30, 1958, the DC-8 would go on to remain in production for nearly 15 years, with more than 500 of the aircraft constructed.

One specific DC-8-72 was purchased and put into service in 1969 by Alitalia, before Braniff purchased this plane and implemented it as a member of its fleet from 1979 to 1986. At that point, this aircraft was repurposed from passengers to science when NASA took possession of it. The aerospace and sciences agency began outfitting it with entirely new capabilities, turning it into what has been described as “the world’s largest flying laboratory.”

NASA’s DC-8-72 flies low over Trenton Mercer Airport on August 16, 2023, initiating a data collection effort over the Northeast. Photo: Frank Moriarty/Aerospace Perceptions 

 

NASA’s DC-8 is based at the Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, and  is rarely seen on the East Coast. But in recent weeks N817NA has been temporarily based at Ohio’s Wright Patterson Air Force Base, making a number of research flights over eastern cities, scientifically barnstorming at very low altitudes of just over 1000 feet.

 

The project insignia of AEROMMA, featuring the NASA DC-8 winging its way over an urban environment. Image: NOAA

 

It’s all part of a months-long, national project under the auspices of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) called AEROMMA, the acronym far more easily said than the study’s official title: “Atmospheric Emissions and Reactions Observed from Megacities to Marine Areas.” In conjunction with several smaller aircraft in NASA’s fleet, the DC-8 is helping to gather data on pollution sources and levels in the vicinity of major metropolitan areas, including New York City, Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto.  

The interior of N817NA showing the instrumentation installations. Business class redefined! Photo: NASA

One typical AEROMMA flight took place on August 16, when the DC-8 took off in Ohio with a flight plan filed for a Trenton, NJ destination. But rather than landing at Trenton Mercer Airport, NASA used that location as an aerial inception point. Typically, NASA uses the plane for high-altitude research, but on this day its DC-8 descended to a low altitude before embarking on a precise course north from Trenton over the New York area, meticulously repeating past project flights for accurate comparison. When collecting data over water, the DC-8 dropped as low as 500 feet.

N817NA’s days of flying into dramatic skies will be coming to an end in the months to come, the plane having flown for well over five decades. Photo: Frank Moriarty/Aerospace Perceptions 

 

Seeing any DC-8 in the skies of 2023 is an extremely rare sight – only five remain airworthy in the world. And that number will decrease in a matter of months, as NASA plans to retire its DC-8 in favor of a newer Boeing 777 obtained from Japan Airlines in 2020. Work to install laboratory instrumentation into this newer aircraft is ongoing at NASA Langley Research Center in VA. For now, though, N817NA’s research flights continue, and its graceful beauty in the skies calls to mind an earlier era of aviation.

 

For more on NASA’s flagship DC-8 research plane and the agency’s entire fleet visit:

https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/aircraft

https://airbornescience.nasa.gov/tracker/

Farewell to the Armadillo Express

 

Its attractive design unmistakable, aircraft 84-0188 is prepared by McGuire team members for the refueling jet’s flight into retirement at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona – the last of the New Jersey base’s fleet of McDonnell-Douglas KC-10 Extender refueling planes.

 

“Anybody you talk to about the KC-10 – pilot, flight engineer, boom operator, maintainer – there’s definitely a pride about this airplane, that it was very special. Most of us feel that the KC-10 has several more years, even decades, left in her. That she’s being retired before her time is what I think hurts most in the crew force…”

Lt. Col. Adam Waite was speaking about the imminent retirement of the unique three-engine McDonnell-Douglas KC-10 Extender refueling/cargo aircraft, a plane with a curvaceous profile that generated the humorous descriptor “Big Sexy.”

Waite’s words came with a definite hint of sadness. It was June 21, 2023, and the very next day the last KC-10 assigned to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey would take to the skies a final time, bound for what will essentially be interment at the “Boneyard” – Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

In a final moment of public glory, the KC-10 nicknamed “Armadillo Express” roars over tens of thousands of people gathered for 2023’s “Power in the Pines” airshow at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

 

Waite – on the verge of retiring as a military pilot - knew well of what he spoke, for he himself had recently flown the next-to-the-last of McGuire’s KC-10s (an aircraft nicknamed “The Gambler”) to its final resting place, a last journey for the pilot after 15 years at the controls of KC-10s.

“I flew 79-1711 to the Boneyard at the end of May, and that was significant for me because it was my final flight,” Waite explained. “It was bittersweet, because for me, on one side it was a great flight, with beautiful weather. I could not have asked for a better final flight, or a fini-flight as we call them in the Air Force. But at the same time, it was sad to know that it was the last flight for that aircraft, and it was just going to be parked with the other KC-10s you could see sitting in the AZ desert.

“15 years in my career…” He paused thoughtfully. “I consider it, out of all the planes I flew, my favorite aircraft of everything.”

 

“Big Sexy” languidly sails through ethereal late afternoon skies in October 2022.

 

Waite spoke of the experience in a conference room at McGuire as hundreds of people – many of whom had flown in KC-10s or supported their missions from this USAF base – gathered in a hanger nearby for what was billed as the “KC-10 Farewell & Final Salute.”

The crowds gather to applaud the guest of honor at the “KC-10 Farewell & Final Salute.”

While Lt. Col. Waite knows the KC-10 about as well as you can know an aircraft, TSgt. Tiffany Irby also knows the KC-10 extremely well. But her experience came from the other end of the aircraft, logging years as a boom operator.

“This is where a big part of my career is,” Irby said of the KC-10. “There is a lot of sadness. Seeing something that I’ve spent close to a decade on, and then closing that chapter. And I know people who’ve spent their entire career on it, and are definitely sad to see it go.”

 

McGuire’s KC-10 0433 retired from active service on March 26, 2022 and was incorporated into the USAF Air Mobility Command Museum at Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base.

 

The increasing USAF dependence on the newer KC-46 Pegasus generates a big change in refueling parameters for boom operators. The control stations for the KC-46 operators are located directly behind the aircraft flight deck, refueling accomplished via monitors and data input. Gone are the boom controls at the rear of the aircraft found in the KC-135s and KC-10s, where the operators had windows providing a direct view of the plane being fueled in a tanker’s wake.

“Of course, having a window is always going to be the perfect thing,” Irby believes. “I had the opportunity to fly on the 46, and its system is not where it needs to be just yet. But the next system that will be coming online is definitely going to be a good one. The program managers said it was close to having your eyes looking out that window and when I got to test it out, it was actually pretty nice.”

Beyond refueling, Irby brought up a significant aspect of the KC10s’ contributions to military operations: its range and cargo capabilities.

“We were a little more restricted dimensionally than the C-17 or C-5,” she admitted, “but on joint efforts with the Marines or Army we can take their guys and their crews and their cargo. For example, if they have an exercise in Utah, we can take everything they need out there. A lot of the time we were working with all of the active-duty Guards across the Northeast, but we could go anywhere we needed to, with a 4400 mile radius.”

“We could carry up to 170,000 pounds in a purely cargo configuration, which is almost on par with the C-17, in a weight-for-weight comparison,” noted Lt. Col. Waite of the KC-10’s capabilities. “The limitations would just be for volume or dimensions. Pound for pound, though, we were right up there with the C-17.

“If we were doing a fighter drag, then we can do 2000 to 2500 miles to take a group of, say, four fighters across the ocean,” he continued. “We could go from the East Coast over to Europe, or the West Coast over the Pacific to Hawaii. That would be a typical range for us. A lot of operations over water. The KC-10s bread and butter was the over-water fighter drags where we have the significant amount of fuel so we can do that with just a single airplane. Our fuel capacity was almost double that of the KC-135, and roughly 50% more than the 46.”

 

26,000 feet over Aerospace Perceptions headquarters in New Castle DE, a KC-10 from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst drags an F-15 fighter during refueling operations in August 2022.

 

Though Waite had flown his final KC-10 flight, TSgt. Irby had one mission remaining: to accompany KC-10 84-0188 – a plane nicknamed “Armadillo Express” – as the last Extender flight out of McGuire, the day after the farewell ceremony. Among a select group of passengers would be Lt Gen James Jacobson, Deputy Commander, Pacific Air Forces – a man with over 4000 flying hours, including time spent at the controls of the KC-10.

But for the final flight, Armadillo Express would be piloted by Maj. Joshua Gorring – a pilot relatively new to flying the KC-10.

 

Maj. Joshua Gorring stands with the Armadillo Express on the day before the KC-10s final flight, one to be piloted by Gorring.

 

“I haven’t been a pilot on the KC-10 for very long,” Gorring reveals. “I came here in August 2021, and I immediately went off to training. So really, I’ve been qualified for about a year and a half as a pilot on the KC-10.”

In the grand scheme of things, Gorring flying KC-10s at McGuire was remarkably appropriate.

“I started my career as a KC-10 boom operator back in 2005 – same squadron, same base. So, it’s really a full circle for me,” he smiled.

Assigned to the 32^nd Air Refueling Squadron - one of the oldest in the United States Air Force, with origins dating 1917 – Gorring had extensive flight duty between his KC-10 bookends. After transitioning from the boom operator duties into flight training, he piloted C-17 Globemasters for several years. Eventually, he took on advanced training responsibilities of new tanker and airlift pilots as a flight instructor piloting the T-1A Jayhawk for three years at Vance AFB, Oklahoma, before his return to the realm of the KC-10.

Gorring spoke of the need to be ready for anything while providing critical refueling capabilities in the KC-10.

“It comes down to looking at that other aircraft coming into refuel,” he explains. “Are they bouncing around? Are we bouncing around? What does it look like? I’ve been in situations where we’re in bad weather, but it’s as smooth as can be and you make contact. Yet it can be a clear day, and the plane is bouncing around all over the place. Or maybe someone’s having a bad day, or maybe they’re new and it’s their first time behind a KC-10. Scenarios, or even malfunctions - when you’re behind another aircraft, there are so many things that can happen.”

Gorring notes that the KC-10 played well with some, presented challenges to others.

“Like you’d expect from a heavy aircraft, the wake comes down and away from the aircraft,” he said of the big plane in flight. “But what’s nice for the receivers, as they’re coming up from behind us, with our two engines on the side it almost acts like a barrier, to keep them in between and let them almost bounce off the exhaust. It helps keep them in place. Where there’s a struggle typically is with the number two engine (mounted above the fuselage), where the exhaust is vectored basically right toward their aircraft. C-17s, for example, will have difficulty with that exhaust and it forces them into different positions. As you would expect, two aircraft that close together disrupt a lot of air.”

KC-10 0188 on the McGuire runway in the distance between two F-16s of the USAF Viper Demo Team.

 

Though he had moved to the flight deck of the KC-10 as a pilot, Gorring’s time as a boom operator has flavored his thoughts about the rapidly changing parameters of aerial refueling, from the KC-46’s boom operator being fully dependent on technology to the idea of autonomous refueling, a topic covered in a recent Aerospace Perceptions article.

“As a boom operator previously in my career, I’m the person who’s sitting back there watching and physically controlling things. Then to go to computer screens and to then potentially go completely autonomous – it’s interesting,” he admits. “But personally, I preferred sitting in the back looking out my window, because I could see the planes and everything that was happening in real time, live, right in front of me. But we’ve made so many different advancements in our technology that it almost seems autonomy is an inevitable course of advancement. But I don’t know if you can take the person out of the aircraft and get the results you’re looking for.

“I really think there has to be someone actually there monitoring the systems, and someone who can intervene in real time if something goes wrong,” he cautions. “Who would initiate breakaways, if we have to separate the two aircraft quickly? Is it a system decision, or is someone monitoring operations and they make the determination there’s an unsafe situation? How is that called, how is it initiated?”

 

A last salute from personnel at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst sends the final KC-10 to its concluding takeoff. (Photo by Senior Airman Sergio Avalos, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs)

 

By the time those questions for the future are answered, the KC-10 Extender will have long been retired. And, after flying Armadillo Express to its final landing in Arizona, Gorring himself plans to leave the world of refueling and return to training future aviators.

“I started my Air Force career right here in this location and in the same squadron, and now I’m part of the crew flying that aircraft away,” Gorring says quietly. “Maybe being part of that experience will bring about a little closure for me, but it’s a bittersweet moment. This plane has been with us for so long. It’s been a workhorse. It’s done so many things, so many missions and operations… To see it go? Yes, it’s bittersweet.”

Rising into the skies over New Jersey with all three engines roaring, the Armadillo Express makes one final glorious ascension. (Photo by Senior Airman Sergio Avalos, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs)

Ironically, just five days after the last KC-10 departed Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, the USAF celebrated 100 years of aerial refueling with Operation Centennial Contact. The skies of America were filled with dozens upon dozens of refueling tankers and the aircraft that benefit from their services. Of course, McGuire contributed an impressive array of KC-46, C-17, and KC-135 aircraft to the celebration. But the reliable and capable KC-10 Extender? Sadly, it was well on its way to becoming just a memory.

 

 

 In the top two of these three images from Operation Centennial Contact, the two-engine KC-46 Pegasus – the refueling aircraft that is essentially replacing the KC-10 - leads the workhorse C-17 Globemaster in a simulated refueling formation. In the third image, a KC-135 Stratotanker heads south over Aerospace Perceptions headquarters in New Castle, Delaware. The KC-135 first flew in 1956 – a full 25 years before the now-retiring KC-10 Extender entered into service.

All photos except where otherwise credited: Frank Moriarty/Aerospace Perceptions

Click on photos to see larger images.

Flying Hammer

Fans of the USAF Thunderbirds can always visit the team’s official website to find the names and read about the careers of the incredibly talented aviators who take to the skies in the famous red, white, and blue F-16 C and D aircraft. But on June 9, 2023, there was a new name added to the roster: Jenifer Rayne, aka “Hammer.”

One of the many public outreaches the Thunderbirds accomplish each year is their Hometown Hero program, one that honors people who have made contributions to better their local community. At each of the team’s airshow stops, the Hometown Hero selected for recognition experiences the unforgettable thrill of flying with one of the Thunderbirds aviators in an F-16D two-seater fighter aircraft.

For Maryland’s Ocean City Air Show of June 10 and 11, 2023, Jenifer Rayne, principal of Pocomoke High School in southern coastal Maryland, was selected for this honor. Aside from the responsibilities expected of a principal, Rayne thoughtfully looked for ways to make the school experience and lives of her students more rewarding. That led to the creation of a student club called Speak Up, a group that not only provides students with a creative appreciation for the culture of marginalized populations, but also gives students a collective voice that is heard for the betterment of everyone at the school. Rayne’s efforts were recognized by the Maryland State Education Association, which recently presented her with the MSEA Human and Civil Rights Award – an award for which she was nominated by her own students.

As fulfilling as the award presentation in Baltimore may have been, there was an emphasis on excitement when Rayne and a small group of friends and supporters arrived early the morning of June 9 at the main gate of NASA Wallops Flight Facility. This NASA installation acted as home base for the Thunderbirds in the days leading up to and during the Ocean City Air Show. Entering D-1 Hanger, Rayne met with medical staff and team members who outfitted her with a flight suit. Then, it was on to the critical flight briefing, conducted by the pilot who would convey Jenifer on the fastest ride of her life.

Lt. Col. Ryan Yingling is Thunderbird #7. Since being selected for pilot training at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training after earning his navigator rating in 2008, Yingling has amassed over 3500 flight hours, including time spent piloting A-10C aircraft in operational assignments over the Republic of Korea.

Like all Thunderbirds team members, Yingling is calm and professional, intensely focused. Seated at a desk and armed with a laptop computer and a scale model of an F-16, the pilot conveyed to Rayne what she would see, hear, and feel during the flight.

“So, what are we going to do today?” Yingling asked rhetorically. “Fly an airplane. Fly a very fast airplane. And do things in an airplane that you’ll never do in an airplane again.”

Yingling began a detailed description of the cockpit environment. Despite the fast flow of the information, Rayne appeared nearly serene, taking it all in as topics were ticked off ranging from restraint systems to cockpit ventilation.

The inertial reel of the cockpit harness can be locked into place or, with the control in the aft position, it’s released and allows freedom of movement.

“We’re going to keep it in the aft position all day today,” Yingling explained. “It’s not going to help us with aerobatics, or going upside down, or anything like that – unless we have an issue with stopping distance. If we feel like we’re concerned about the stopping distance of the aircraft, then we have a hook on the back of the aircraft that can grab a cable. If we have to take the cable, which is here at Wallops, then we will lock our harnesses. That way, when it slows us down real quick like we’re landing on an aircraft carrier, our face doesn’t go into the console. We don’t want to damage the pretty helmets,” he concluded with a smile.

Rayne would be able to adjust a cooling airflow bezel during the flight – but that action comes with a slight caution.

“When you reach down to move that,” Yingling said, “just be cognizant that the ejection handle is right there in front of it. Any time you are moving about in the cockpit, we want to move very deliberately. We don’t want to catch anything on our flight suit cuffs, or any other equipment that might break. Same thing around the ejection handle – we don’t want to accidentally grab onto it.”

Adding some reassuring news, Yingling noted that the ejection handle has to be armed, and then requires 40-50 pounds of upward pressure to actually initiate ejection.

“So, if you bump it, don’t worry about it.”

Of course, a central component of the briefing was to prepare “Hammer” for the g-forces she would soon encounter. Yingling elaborated on a simple mantra: squeeze, breath, here come the g’s…He stressed the proper way to brace the lower body, encased in g-suit protection, and the importance of a metronome-like approach to breathing. The target is roughly 70-80% lung capacity, to avoid blacking out.

“The reason we don’t want to take a real deep breath? When the g’s push on our chest…” Yingling forcefully exhales. “All out – and now, nap time. And we don’t want to do that.”

After a final review of the maneuvers planned, the long walk from the hanger facility to the flightline began. All eight of the Thunderbirds aircraft were precisely aligned on the tarmac, but as Rayne and Yingling neared #7, Thunderbirds 1 through 4 pulled away to noisily initiate an airshow familiarization flight.

Minutes later Rayne joined them in the skies, Yingling initiating a steep, powerful climb in the F-16 just seconds off the runway. What followed were all of the acrobatics and resulting sensations that Rayne had been prepared for that morning – but actually experiencing them was likely something else entirely.

Surely a highlights of the flight came when Yingling guided Thunderbird #7 over Pocomoke High School, where Rayne’s students were gathered to cheer her on as she flashed by, the F-16 banking with a trail of smoke in its wake.

In less than an hour it was over, “Hammer” standing next to the F-16 with an elated look on her face. Yingling proudly noted that she had experienced 9.3 g’s at one point in the flight – an imposing force.

“I was awake the whole time - they gave me the breathing techniques and the crew prepared me for everything we were doing today,” Rayne enthused to a local WMDT-ABC reporter covering her flight. “The turns, the rolls, and going upside down… It was really one of the best days of my entire life.”

The Hometown Hero was now off-duty. But Lt. Col. Yingling had myriad other tasks to oversee.

When he’s not at the controls of Thunderbird #7, Lt. Col. Yingling has a tremendous responsibility as the leader of the team Operations Section. Under his domain are team communications, computer systems analysts, training, standardization and evaluation, aircrew flight equipment, and airlift support.

“It’s a 370 day a year operation, 25 hours a day, eight days a week,” Yingling emphasized. “I have people that work multiple jobs just to make this happen. We take 70 people on every trip that we do, and we can only fit nine in our own jets. So, we have to reply on Air Force airlift. We take about 40 to 50,000 pounds of equipment to every show. And then we rely on the airshow team, the show hosts, the directors to secure a lot of our ground equipment. But each and every day we are demonstrating the Air Force’s combat capabilities.”

Over the weekend the USAF Thunderbirds went on to fly out of their temporary base at NASA Wallops Flight Facility while headlining two days at the Ocean City Air Show, an event that played out in near perfect weather. The tens of thousands of spectators crowding the beach and boardwalk were thrilled by the show – but understandably, no one was more thrilled during this particular visit by the Thunderbirds than Jenifer Rayne.

 

Click on photos for larger images. All photos: Frank Moriarty/Aerospace Perceptions 

Using an F-16 scale model, Lt. Col. Yingling provides Jenifer Rayne with a preview of the flight to come – including this upside down maneuver.

Lt. Col. Yingling and Jenifer “Hammer” Rayne cross the tarmac as Thunderbird #1 leads 2, 3, and 4 into takeoff position.

Fully encased in flightware and g-suit, Rayne ascends toward her seat in the rear cockpit.

Strapped in and ready to go, Rayne strikes a classic confident aviator pose.

Lt. Col. Yingling runs through his final pre-flight checks as Rayne prepares to go airborne, her name added just below Thunderbird #7’s canopy.

Flights checks complete, Lt. Col. Yingling sets Thunderbird #7 into motion, Jenifer Rayne watching with excitement from the rear seat.

Thunderbird #7 leaps toward the skies over the runway at NASA Wallops Flight Facility.

Rayne feels her first g forces as Yingling applies the power to initiate a steep ascent.

Mission accomplished: Thunderbird #7 returns to the flightline after following a path that included a high-speed pass over Pocomoke High School.

The Thunderbirds team presents Jenifer Rayne with exclusive artwork commemorating her aerial adventure.

Jenifer Rayne speaks with WMDT-ABC about the day’s events. “We’re a very small community, we’re about 75% poverty,” she noted. “I’m always trying to look for ways to get some attention and exposure, because I think our students are the very best students that there are, with the very best staff. So I’m honored to represent them.”