Boeing KC-46 Pegasus

I would, personally, like to see the Boeing management team responsible for the problems, be properly sorted through the courts and sanctioned. I know, not going to happen but frankly they messed up on so many fronts it's laughable that they be allowed to manage a school tuck shop. No, I know they are all gone now anyway which is helpful.
 
Foo Fighter said:
I would, personally, like to see the Boeing management team responsible for the problems, be properly sorted through the courts and sanctioned. I know, not going to happen but frankly they messed up on so many fronts it's laughable that they be allowed to manage a school tuck shop. No, I know they are all gone now anyway which is helpful.
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Same here Foo Fighter, I would go further than that and give the management team fines of up to one million dollars until they get the problems within Boeing sorted, plus also have someone that is not part of Boeing go and monitor them until they get the problems fixed.
 
Senior Airman Jon Vermont, sitting at the left boom operator console, explained how changing the scene gets around the defect.

“As the sun is changing [in] distance over the horizon, and [depending on] what degree it’s at, we need to change our scenes to match with it, to keep a good visual on the receiver itself,” Vermont said. “We’ll switch views, but the only time that we’re switching views is when the receiver is at 50 feet or farther aft.”

The limit on when a boom operator can switch scenes is due to another deficiency in the system: The screen blacks out for an instant with each turn of the knob. The Air Force requires that every time conditions such as clouds or lighting degrade the visual display, a boom operator must send the receiving aircraft back to 50 feet astern, then change the scene, before the aircraft begins a new approach.

“If we’re in a position where the sun is just beaming down on us and we can’t find a correct scene, we have to bring the receiver in and back them out multiple times,” Spikes said. “In a wartime situation, the less time that the receiver is around the boom, the more time they have to do whatever mission set they have that day.”
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www.airforcemag.com

KC-46 Boom Operators Learn to Live With RVS Pending 2.0 Upgrade | Air & Space Forces Magazine

KC-46 boom operators have logged hundreds of hours on the new system, learning workarounds to the remote visual system deficiencies pending its upgrade.
www.airforcemag.com www.airforcemag.com

Despite the negative part above, most of the Boomer do seemingly prefer the KC-46 over their old KC-135 as it has an for automatic system that keep the boom engaged in the receiver without any input (like the KC-10).
This also includes pilots, praising the sophisticated autopilot that increases their safety.
 
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FighterJock said:
Grey Havoc said:

USAF Clears KC-46 To Deploy Long Before Official Operational Decision | Aviation Week Network

Air Mobility Command decides it can longer wait and “play chicken” with Boeing.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com
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What? I cannot believe that the USAF are clearing the KC-46 to deploy long before official operational decision when they cannot even refuel an A-10. Obviously the USAF can’t wait to see the Pegasus doing active operations. :eek:
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A-10 is a pretty small fraction of all refuelling ops, and it's not like all the KC-135s are going to disappear at once. So yeah, it makes sense to get the KC-46 in the rotation now while they sort out the issue that keeps the A-10 from fueling.
 
TomS said:
FighterJock said:
Grey Havoc said:

USAF Clears KC-46 To Deploy Long Before Official Operational Decision | Aviation Week Network

Air Mobility Command decides it can longer wait and “play chicken” with Boeing.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com
Click to expand...

What? I cannot believe that the USAF are clearing the KC-46 to deploy long before official operational decision when they cannot even refuel an A-10. Obviously the USAF can’t wait to see the Pegasus doing active operations. :eek:
Click to expand...

A-10 is a pretty small fraction of all refuelling ops, and it's not like all the KC-135s are going to disappear at once. So yeah, it makes sense to get the KC-46 in the rotation now while they sort out the issue that keeps the A-10 from fueling.
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Indeed.... the KC-46A is to replace less than half of the KC-135Rs... and take well over a decade to do even that.

More than enough time to finish working out the bugs, and to choose and develop the replacement for the rest of the KC-135Rs.
 
FighterJock said:
Grey Havoc said:
www.defensenews.com

Supply chain woes delay KC-46 refueling vision system upgrade to 2025

Boeing said supply chain problems have resulted in longer lead times for the computing equipment and other technology needed to build RVS 2.0.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com
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Just as when the KC-46 program was starting to look better. Oh dear!
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To be fair everyone is now days got bit by that bug. Last week that came up in a discussion with an aerospace guy and just this afternoon had the same discussion with an oil and gas guy. Supply chain and labor issues are pretty much intertwined. One of the two complained about the competition from McDonalds (no I won't say which one ;) )
 
BlackBat242 said:
TomS said:
FighterJock said:
Grey Havoc said:

USAF Clears KC-46 To Deploy Long Before Official Operational Decision | Aviation Week Network

Air Mobility Command decides it can longer wait and “play chicken” with Boeing.
aviationweek.com aviationweek.com
Click to expand...

What? I cannot believe that the USAF are clearing the KC-46 to deploy long before official operational decision when they cannot even refuel an A-10. Obviously the USAF can’t wait to see the Pegasus doing active operations. :eek:
Click to expand...

A-10 is a pretty small fraction of all refuelling ops, and it's not like all the KC-135s are going to disappear at once. So yeah, it makes sense to get the KC-46 in the rotation now while they sort out the issue that keeps the A-10 from fueling.
Click to expand...
Indeed.... the KC-46A is to replace less than half of the KC-135Rs... and take well over a decade to do even that.

More than enough time to finish working out the bugs, and to choose and develop the replacement for the rest of the KC-135Rs.
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The answers Boeing, now what's the question ?
 
mkellytx said:
FighterJock said:
Grey Havoc said:
www.defensenews.com

Supply chain woes delay KC-46 refueling vision system upgrade to 2025

Boeing said supply chain problems have resulted in longer lead times for the computing equipment and other technology needed to build RVS 2.0.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com
Click to expand...

Just as when the KC-46 program was starting to look better. Oh dear!
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To be fair everyone is now days got bit by that bug. Last week that came up in a discussion with an aerospace guy and just this afternoon had the same discussion with an oil and gas guy. Supply chain and labor issues are pretty much intertwined. One of the two complained about the competition from McDonalds (no I won't say which one ;) )
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As an electrician by trade, the industry is plagued by shortages... circuit breakers, breaker panels, disconnect switches, and many other things have had periods of non-availability (some lasting for months) over the last two & a half years.

Right now our supply houses are out of common panels, that have been back-ordered for months.
 
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Archibald said:
a single pilot
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So no girlfriends allowed onboard KC-46s ?
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The only dating allowed would be like this "conjugal* visit"!

https://archive.jsonline.com/news/97641399.html/

July 01, 2010
As reunions go, it only lasted a few minutes.
But Jeff and Christine McLean were thrilled nonetheless to see each other, even though they couldn't hug, let alone kiss.
Married in May 2009, the couple has spent most of their first year of marriage apart.
Really far apart. As in different cockpits in different airspaces.

Air Force Capt. Christine McLean pilots a refueling plane and Navy Lt. Jeff McLean flies an F/A-18 Super Hornet.
After Christine McLean was deployed from England to southwest Asia in May for refueling missions in the skies over Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries, she hoped she might hook up - literally - with her husband, who has been flying combat and support missions from the USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier since January.

But it wasn't until last week, on Jeff McLean's final and 40th flight on this deployment that he rendezvoused with the air refuelers over Pakistan and was happy to see it was his wife's plane.
As commander of her KC-135 Stratotanker, Christine McLean speaks to pilots of planes maneuvering behind the refueler to top off their fuel tanks. So the couple spoke for a short time. It was dark, which meant only a brief glimpse for the husband and wife.
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* Yes... he "put his probe in her basket"! ;)

The plane (bottom) of Navy Lt. Jeff McLean is refueled over Pakistan by the plane of his wife of one year, Christine McLean, whom he has not seen in six months. The photograph was taken by his wingman. The refueling rendezvous was a chance encounter on Jeff’s final mission.
The plane (bottom) of Navy Lt. Jeff McLean is refueled over Pakistan by the plane of his wife of one year, Christine McLean, whom he has not seen in six months. The photograph was taken by his wingman. The refueling rendezvous was a chance encounter on Jeff’s final mission. Credit: Photo courtesy of McLean family
 
FighterJock said:
Grey Havoc said:
www.defensenews.com

KC-46 tanker’s boom breaks, dents plane while refueling fighter jet

The Air Force believes it will cost at least $2.5 million to repair the KC-46.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com
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Oh no, how much will it cost to repair the KC-46. And more importantly what happened to the fighter that it dented when it was refuelling?
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The fighter was undamaged. The dent was to the KC-46A!

The tanker was on its way from Glasgow Prestwick Airport in Scotland to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, when it was tasked to gas up an F-15, an Air Force official confirmed Wednesday.

Investigators believe that during the rendezvous, the two aircraft were traveling at such different speeds that the refueling boom forcibly broke away from the fighter jet and slammed back into the KC-46, the official said. The Pegasus safely continued on to New Jersey after the mishap.
.....
While the service believes it will cost at least $2.5 million to repair the KC-46, the official said he isn’t aware of any damage to the F-15.
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So basically the F-15 jock forcibly broke contact, causing the boom to rebound up into the KC-46A until it broke... not really the Boeing's fault!

CkRqbIPplEJ
boom boo-boo.jpg
 
The $2.5 million number is really just a guess, based on calling this a potential Class A mishap (that's the cost threshold for Class A). But looking at this picture, the boom outer sleeve is cracked clean across so who knows what happened to the inner portion. That's a lot of inspection work just to see what is broken.

And of course these estimates include costs like manpower, even for service members whose costs are really sunk anyway.
 
BlackBat242 said:
FighterJock said:
Grey Havoc said:
www.defensenews.com

KC-46 tanker’s boom breaks, dents plane while refueling fighter jet

The Air Force believes it will cost at least $2.5 million to repair the KC-46.
www.defensenews.com www.defensenews.com
Click to expand...

Oh no, how much will it cost to repair the KC-46. And more importantly what happened to the fighter that it dented when it was refuelling?
Click to expand...
The fighter was undamaged. The dent was to the KC-46A!

The tanker was on its way from Glasgow Prestwick Airport in Scotland to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, when it was tasked to gas up an F-15, an Air Force official confirmed Wednesday.

Investigators believe that during the rendezvous, the two aircraft were traveling at such different speeds that the refueling boom forcibly broke away from the fighter jet and slammed back into the KC-46, the official said. The Pegasus safely continued on to New Jersey after the mishap.
.....
While the service believes it will cost at least $2.5 million to repair the KC-46, the official said he isn’t aware of any damage to the F-15.
Click to expand...

So basically the F-15 jock forcibly broke contact, causing the boom to rebound up into the KC-46A until it broke... not really the Boeing's fault!

CkRqbIPplEJ
View attachment 686786
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So it was the F-15 pilots fault for denting the KC-46, any ideas as to how much it is going to cost to repair the damage to the tanker?
 
Arjen said:
Not necessarily the F-15's pilot fault. Weather, turbulence?
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So it was turbulent air behind the denting and not the pilots fault after all, and also how long will it take to get the tanker repaired and back to operations?
 
And the KC-46 woes continue. At least our Centerline Drogue System (CDS) is and has been a silver lining, worked right out of the box!
 

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