Flying through NV when these guys show up.

These guys just showed up.

Flying through NV and these guys showed up off our wing. Oh shit, shti, stih.

Um...

I think we took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

Oh shit

Two more showed up.

Some more.

Oh..

...yeah. We're supposed to be here. ;)

F-16 comming in.

HOLY COW

That's a big bird! Took forever!

B-52

We still use these antiques. There's not too many left in the world. Check out the "bone-yard" on Google. We leave them out there so the Russians (and the rest of the world) can see that they're dismantled. (they guillotine their wings off and chunk up the fuselages and leave them there to rot/rust as proof.)

We were... communicating.

Couldn't help myself with the reference. (Fuck off - I know it was an F-14 with a A-4E/F (or"Mig-28") in the movie)

This is the F-15. My 2nd favorite AC in the world. Soon to be replaced by the F-35.

Dropping F-BOMBS....

I couldn't honestly tell you if it was this pilot or the next one up, but we hit some pretty hard turbulence and the boom missed his windscreen by about 30ft (9 meters). Just imagine the speed we're traveling, and the altitude, and the skill it takes to line up *two* aircraft within 50-100 feet of each other and hold that distance and speed for about 5-10 minutes. My hat's off to you, MSgt Boom Operator for keeping your shit straight (and in your pants!)

An F-22

And this little "humming bird" came to the feeder as well.

Solid as rock

Watching the difference between the two (the F-15 and the F-22) was night and day. This AC stayed right in tune during the whole refueling. Every bump and rock and roll we hit, that thing stayed *RIGHT THERE!* On point. Advances in computers fly by wire have come so far!

F-22 just off the wing.

This is in the top 10 of my favorite pictures that I've personally taken.

Whatcha lookin at?

Oh... Not me. Still. Cool picture.

My head

Probably the only pic you bastards will ever see of me. It's cramped down in the pit. I'm to the left of the operator, he's the guy with balls of titanium offloading thousands of gallons (or liters. At this point, there's no real reason to be specific) of fuel to 1q4Z!fuckX millions of dollar$ (or ₤'s, again, at this point, no reasonable difference...) worth of AC.

Inside.

THIS IS SPARTA! Well, it's actually better than the usual spartan conditions because they knew they had passengers, so they put the seats out and MX didn't shit in the doorway...

All the Glory!

Glory shot!

Not all pictures where from my camera. I was not in the AC that refueled the B-52 or F-16s . I *cough* chose the plane that had the F-22s and F-15s (for... reasons. :) ...) These are from about two years ago - but: 1. I deleted my FB account almost two years ago (only two pics made it up) and 2, I was still up in the air about security risks/classifications/etc. I was given the greenlight and found a new medium to post on. Enjoy!

Ok I hate these too, but FP Edit:
They were F-5's, not A-4's in Top Gun
No, I'm *not* a boom operator, but I've logged over 10,000 hours flying my desk with zero mishaps.
I'm still not entirely convinced that they're not trying to do away with the F-15s, based on what I've seen and heard, but I can't say much more on that subject.
Lastly, A-10 is my favorite AC.
(and "No," to the one person who asked, I will not show you my other 9 favorite pics, they're for me... for reasons... when I deploy...)

Cat Tax!

My 12 y/o, Chevy and my wife's 13 y/o, Diva. A rare moment of "truce" was called when the food was refilled...