B-2 Air Refueling

[MulesAFpilot]

As requested... here are some of the shots from my flight on a KC-135. Oh, and I used the 17-70 for these shots.

1.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/3991367278_6e7da219ca.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3516/3991367278_ae4bd7106c_o.jpg)

2.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3990611469_51d2115d94.jpg (http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3463/3990611469_74edc44e05_o.jpg)

3.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2427/3990611783_8ca95555e2.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2427/3990611783_1abbea6c69_o.jpg)

4.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2623/3990612015_6c1569b454.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2623/3990612015_d7176b7345_o.jpg)

5.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/3991368440_ce97521b7a.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2597/3991368440_c00367976f_o.jpg)

6.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2549/3991368840_55331a6d4f.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2549/3991368840_8f31195b44_o.jpg)

7.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/3990613211_cd8c3163dd.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2486/3990613211_efbf1b6f16_o.jpg)

[artyman]

They are one weird looking plane :D

[int2str]

Well done! Last one is my favourite!

[kilr95ss]

Nice! Hard to top shots like that, not everyone gets to fly in a tanker while refueling a B2, very envious.

[FlyingPhotog]

Yep...

I hate ya!

(Of course you know I'm kidding...)

Sweet Shots! More importantly, did the Mrs ride along and did she have a good time?

[RomanS]

Amazing, so jealous of your access to this

[TheBigDog]

awesome shots from what had to be an incredible time!

[20DNewbie]

Oohhhhh man, that's so cool!

Of course if I were the pilot and knew you were going to be taking some shots I would have stuck one of the hula dancing bobble head things on the "dash".

[gkarris]

^^^ or at least a smiley face sticker on the front windshield... :)

Those are some of the most awesome shots...

[Analog6]

That's some amazing precision flying!

[xMClass]

Wow. Great shots!

[Sports_Dude]

They are one weird looking plane :D

Alien technology!

[MulesAFpilot]

Thank you all very much. It was cool being on this side of the Air Refueling. Yes my wife went a long and she thought it was awesome. All of the wives did actually.

[By-tor]

Very nice.... Love them all..
Had a couple of pod rides refueling B-52's back in the early 80's and loved it.

[PhotosGuy]

Excellent! Hard to top shots like that, not everyone gets to fly in a tanker while refueling a B2 If ya got it, flaunt it! :D

[tslabaugh]

You are getting a shot of the B-2 that most of us will never get to see!

Very cool shots and thanks for your services!

[andrewhuxman]

WOW awesome stuff, you are one lucky man .

[MulesAFpilot]

Thank you all very much for the kind comments. It was a lot of fun, but I most enjoyed sharing the time showing the spouses a little bit of what we do.

[mathogre]

Those are amazing shots!!! Very nice.

[PicSniper]

Very, very cool! Thanks for sharing.

[24alpha]

These are fantastic! Well taken.

[rahal]

awesome photos

[bbulldog]

Mum i want one of them for christmas!!!!

[brownbugger]

wow dude , these are some pretty cool shots !

[Radders]

I'd pay alot of money to get given that chance!! Imagine that it looks like from the ground too..

Awesome!

[TTk]

Excellent set of photos.:cool:

[scermat]

stunning! excellent series!

[MD83driver]

Great air to air shots ! In # 7 it looks like you were right over Cole Camp, MO headed northeast and got a portion of the Tuman Reservoir Lake in the upper left side of the picture. Excellent pictures.

[Ramrod]

Great shots, thanks for sharing.

[ckort]

Excellent series, thanks for posting ;)

[MulesAFpilot]

Great air to air shots ! In # 7 it looks like you were right over Cole Camp, MO headed northeast and got a portion of the Tuman Reservoir Lake in the upper left side of the picture. Excellent pictures.

You know, I think you're right.

[Gig103]

Bad-a$$! great shots, count me on the jealous list!

[MikeFairbanks]

So why is the stealth refueling over the States? Was it a training exercise?

[Jon Foster]

Excellent shots.

Jon.

[Todd Lambert]

Awesome stuff! Very very cool and not something you see every day. Thanks for sharing these.


So why is the stealth refueling over the States? Was it a training exercise?

I'd imagine they have to practice this?

[4thunder]

Very nice captures.

Oh, and thanks for serving our country.


4T

[Aviation Junkie]

Stunning shots! I've been waiting for these ever since I saw your thread in the discussions forum. Thanks for sharing!

[FatAlbert]

Its probably been said already, but you B***H. Love shot #5. What an opportunity, glad you made the most of it. Nice view from the Boomer's Office, much more so than an RAF tanker where all you can do is look out the side window!

FA

[MulesAFpilot]

Thank you all very much for your kind words. I also want to thank all of you that thank those of us in the military for our service. We don't do our jobs looking for the fame and thanks. But it's always nice to hear a thank you from time to time.

[gkarris]

Very nice captures.

Oh, and thanks for serving our country.


4T

Thank you all very much for your kind words. I also want to thank all of you that thank those of us in the military for our service. We don't do our jobs looking for the fame and thanks. But it's always nice to hear a thank you from time to time.

Yes, thank you...

(gives you a "virtual hug" and starts crying...) :D

[otlip]

Great shots, the just scream STEALTH

[fivegallon]

Very nice captures.

Oh, and thanks for serving our country.


4T

Thank you all very much for your kind words. I also want to thank all of you that thank those of us in the military for our service. We don't do our jobs looking for the fame and thanks. But it's always nice to hear a thank you from time to time.

Yes, thank you...



(gives you a "virtual hug" and starts crying...) :D

From "down-under" also, THANKYOU.... and also THANKS to our Aussie boys out there fighting the fight alongside you.

Occasionally i (and many guys in our company) get to work alongside some of the troops in a logistical support role.
Your efforts don't go un-noticed.

[mathogre]

I'll add my Thank You too to our military, the Australia military, the UK military, and other military forces who work to keep the world free.

[BGgraphy]

those are some very cool shots, you are so lucky take those shots!

[Design]

Fantastic series. One of my favorite planes. I especially like #6.

[dizzye36m3]

The B-2 is such an amazing aircraft. Thanks for sharing.

[Danimal_inc]

awesome series, i was always amazed at the shape of the B2 and the fact at it actually flies haha!
just curious, why is the triangular piece right in the front black in the last two shots but beige/tan in all the other ones?
I also love the profile in #5
Thanks for sharing and serving!

[neilwood32]

Very nice pictures - i am so jealous of you.

But then again you earn your chance to take these shots by putting yourself in the line of fire so my hat is off to you (and all military).

My guess at Danimals question is that the triangular piece in the last shots is simply a different configuration of the ports showen at the side of the buff triangle in the earlier shots (at 3o'clock)

[MulesAFpilot]

Oh sorry about that question...

Those circular ports that you see on the B-2 are the PTUs (Port Transducer Units). They are basically our pitot tubes. But they also sense side slip, wind, and all that stuff. We have 12 of them on the jet in various areas. The triangle that you see on the nose of the jet has 4 of them. That section is usually black, but my guess is the off color one is either an older one, or just one that is discolored. Not sure though. Hope that helps.

And thank you all again for your kind words.

[mlav]

How does that damn thing fly? ;)

#5 looks great.

[FlyingPhotog]

I still love the story about how the AF took a scale model of the B2 to show Jack Northrup before he died.

Utterly vindicated his idea(s) for a Flying Wing design.

[k4show]

I am SOOO jealous!!

[silvrr]

Great shots. I thought the top of the B-2 was smooth, I don't ever remember seeing a port for re-fueling up top?

[BrantG]

Awesome shots. You are very lucky.

[mogearnotalent]

Whats the larger circular opening (looks almost like a window ) on the port side of the cockpit of the B-2? Awesome shots! Is it cold in there?

[say_cheese]

That plane sucks! (get it). Nice set.

[MulesAFpilot]

Whats the larger circular opening (looks almost like a window ) on the port side of the cockpit of the B-2? Awesome shots! Is it cold in there?

That circular window is part of one of our navigation systems. It is the Astro-Inertial Navigation System or AINS for short. It is an Inertial Navigation System that has a built in star tracker.

And no, it's not cold in the plane... unless you want it to be.

[MacDogg]

Amazing pictures!! Any chance of some bigger shots?

[SkyBaby]

Those are some amazing pictures! I love love love love the crop from the first one. Well done!

[Rivman]

. . . can't beat 'hands on' for taking photos - excellent shots ! ! ! ;)

[fk6065]

Thanks for sharing, unbelieveable shots!

[blackhawk]

That looks eyes in the back of your head hard to dock!
Wild vantage point, me likey, #1!:D

What are those black two rectangles with circles in them on either side of the nose?

[maxbla0]

really nice shots

[leftofedge]

Love the pictures. Refueling is awesome to watch and shoot. The 135 has a tight space though. Next time I want to shoot from a KC-10.

[aviator.4.life]

Love them.

[On_looker]

OMG! If I ever get a chance, I will most likely tremble and mess up the shot or IS will cover for me :)

[Celestron]

I like them all ! Only problem i have is HEIGHT !! I'd love to take that kind of shots but i'd never get in the rear like that at all :( .

[monk3y]

wow...nice photos...

are you really allowed to share these photos to the public? hehe :)

[MulesAFpilot]

Those circles that are in the rectangles are Port Transducer Units (PTUs). Those are basically our Pitot Tubes. They are the sensors that let the plane know it's side slip, wind, airspeed, and those other types of things. There are 24 of them on the jet.

[blackhawk]

Those circles that are in the rectangles are Port Transducer Units (PTUs). Those are basically our Pitot Tubes. They are the sensors that let the plane know it's side slip, wind, airspeed, and those other types of things. There are 24 of them on the jet.

Thank you. Never saw a topside view of one in that much detail before...
that's one wild flying wing, way cool!:cool:

[dpastrana]

The #6 is amazing.... Can you please post more?

Thanks,

[Aaagogo]

F'ING AWESOME...

Do you have #6 in a full shot?

[ChasWG]

Yes my wife went a long and she thought it was awesome. All of the wives did actually.


Yes, yes, cool shots and all, but I wanted to ask, How many wives do you have? ;):p;)