KC-135 Refueling Tanker Ride

I won a spouse's incentive ride on a KC-135 Refueling Tanker. It was a blast! (Thanks for entering my name Chris.)

Beautiful day for flying!










Lovely seating inside

Here comes an F-16!










Close enough to wave hello!

My Favorite Shot

Looking out the back boom.

Refueling an F-16

Beautiful Scenery

Mt. McKinley, tallest mountain in North America at 20,320 ft located in Denali National Park

Friends laying down in the boom.

My friend Krista and I got picked to sit in the cockpit for the landing!

Passing over the braided Tanana River.

Coming in for a landing!



Now to find a parking place.

168th Air Refueling Wing

The crew and I

I knew I would have fun going on the flight but I didn't realize how much fun! It was especially neat having the F-16s fly right next to us and getting to watch them refuel!

The tanker guys and the F-16 pilots are always razzing each other. Here is a joke one of the tanker guys told me.

While flying . . .
F-16 pilot: "Hey guys, watch this!" (he proceeds to do a fancy trick)
Tanker pilot: Teasingly praises his amazing flying ability. Then, says "Now watch this!"
(A few minutes pass while nothing seems to happen)
Tanker pilot: "Did you see that?"
F-16 pilot: "No, what did you do?"
Tanker pilot: "I got up and went to the bathroom. I got a snack and I'm about to trade out jobs and take a nap."
:)