KC-135Q
The SR-71 would be a very short-ranged aircraft were it not for air refueling, limited to around 2,000 NM. Multiple air refuelings extended the range of the aircraft to the limits of crew endurance. Many missions have exceeded 12,000 NM. Forward basing of the SR-71 and KC-135Q tankers permitted faster response, shorter range, shorter duration missions, fewer air refuelings, and greater overall efficiency.
KC-135Q crews and their aircraft distinguished themselves from the rest of the Air Force in several important ways. According to Col. Richard H. Graham, a former Blackbird pilot, in his book “SR-71 The Complete Illustrated History of THE BLACKBIRD The World’s Highest, Fastest Plane,” these aircrews were uniquely certified in Blackbird’s specific radio-silent rendezvous procedures, and their boom operators exclusively qualified to refuel the SR-71. The Q-model tankers featured special plumbing between fuel tanks that enabled them to transfer JP-4 and JP-7 fuel between various tanks. Their engine could burn transfer JP-4 or JP-7 fuel. When the SR-71 landed somewhere without JP-7 fuel availability, the Q-model tankers would fly in with the fuel and refuel the SR-71 using ground transfer hoses.
No story on the SR-71 would be complete without an understanding and appreciation of just how valuable the KC-135Q model tankers and their crews were to the successful and safe completion of every mission.
Blackbird pilots up to the challenge
The SR-71 needed to be refueled approximately every hour. Refueling was tricky, but SR-71 pilots were always up to the challenge, as former Blackbird driver David Peters explained;
‘Refueling …it’s just so much more complex. Especially with the 135’s [The Blackbird could refuel from KC-10s too]. Things like 99% of us had to run the seat all the way to the bottom to have an angle to see the director’s lights.
‘This put you in a very awkward position on the stick with no support.
‘Probably the most dangerous part was transferring from one tanker to the next.
‘He was struggling to keep up his 300 kts and we had to slow down to drop back to him. It could get really dicey, especially in the weather. Sometimes even had to use the equipment to facilitate a second join up. I used either afterburner [AB] if the weather was good and I wouldn’t need the defogger.
SR-71 pilot using one Afterburner during Aerial Refueling
‘The technique I taught was to lift the throttle over the stop at the same time running in rudder trim into the AB engine. And a little bank to straighten it out. If you did it right it all came together and you never changed positions.’
Peters concludes;
‘As soon as you lifted the one throttle to AB you would switch to the other throttle for fore and aft corrections.’
Check out Habubrats SR-71 X profile, SR71Habubrats Instagram profile, and Born into the Wilde Blue Yonder Habubrats Facebook page for further Blackbird photos and stories.
Photo by U.S. Air Force
