First Air-To-Air Synthetic Fuel Transfer

The US Air Force is wasting no time in testing their new synthetic jet fuel. Just yesterday they marked another milestone when the 50/50 blend of JP-8 and fuel derived from the Fisher-Tropsch method was transferred via aerial refueling from a KC-135 to an F-22 Raptor. This also marks the first flight of a Raptor using the new fuel. Neither the KC-135 from March ARB or the F-22 from Edwards AFB were modified to perform the test. "Our goal was to complete the test plan and to support the certification," said Maj. Drew Allen, 411 FLTS chief of standardization and evaluation and also the test pilot. "We wanted to prove that there was no negative effect in performing the aerial refueling using the synthetic fuel." This test moves the USAF another step closer to certifying the synthetic fuel for the entire Air Force fleet as well as moving them another step away from dependence on foreign oil.

[Lockheed Martin photo]
[AF Link]

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Shrinks To Help UAV Pilots Cope With Distant War

Four months after a highly publicised study reported UAV pilots face more fatigue, emotional exhaustion, burnout and video-game thumb than traditional combat pilots, the US Air Force has decided to do something about it. As with the previous study, this new move will surely have in-theatre combat jockeys riled up. Top Air Force brass has decided to call in chaplains, psychologists and psychiatrists "to help ease the mental strain on these remote-control warriors," the Associated Press reports. Many UAV combat sorties in Iraq and Afghanistan are actually flown by pilots and senor operators here in the United States via remote satellite link. When this scenario first began, many UAV pilots were happy and commented that, "most of the time, I get to fight the war, and go home and see the wife and kids at night." This was until the demand for their operations exploded and their hours became more and more prolonged with new internal comparisons to "prisoners with life sentences." While this is enough to get traditional pilots up out of their seats with expletives (along with every other Army grunt and Marine who spends numerous 15 month rotations in the sandbox getting shot at) some higher ups caution that the back and forth between war and peace is straining these distant drone drivers. "It is quite different, going from potentially shooting a missile, then going to your kid's soccer game," sighs Lt. Col. Michael Lenahan. This is why the 163d Reconnaissance Wing out of March ARB in California is looking to help their crews with whatever emotional or psychological issues that may come up. If it works, then its back to bombing insurgents by day and sleeping in their bed with their wives by night.

[Boston Globe via Danger Room]

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