Watch that tanker . . .


Had a very generous note from Mark "Nukes" Williamson, who'd noticed something that got by me in the first Hogs book regarding tankers.* I'll let Nukes tell it:

You have a small technical error in Chapter 22 of Hog Down. KC-135s can only be configured to be refuel with the boom only, or through a drogue adapter on the boom. It cannot do both like the KC-10. In chapter 22 you have an A-10 following an F-18, that couldn't happen from the same KC-135. 

At some point I'll hopefully have a chance to get that fixed. In the meantime, Nukes was kind enough to correspond a bit, and after a bit of prodding shared his biography, which I think a few readers will appreciate - and at the same time give us all a chance to thank him for his service to our country:

I've spent a lot of time hanging on the boom of 135s. Air refueling in a heavy aircraft is some of the best and most challenging flying I've done. Nothing will get the heart pumping as much as taking on 100,000 pounds of gas with a night air refueling in the weather, and that of course is usually when the tanker loses its autopilot...just to make it more "fun". 

Thanks Nukes - for the correction and especially for your time in the air protecting us.