Check out the entertaining and creative aerial refueling demo by Into the Blue Simulations! And what is most important – accurate procedures and valid approach to the refueling process are displayed. While many trying to catch the basket in same manner as arrow hits the target, in this video you can find how it happen in RL – first take position behind the left wing of the tanker, hold it for a while – to get used to the turbulence, set the throttle lever for required airspeed, feel the weather. Once you get stabilized – slowly approach the basket and insert the probe into it. Do not rush, do it smooth and clean. After basket locked, stay behind the refueling pod, slightly below, to minimize wing turbulence. Watch signal lights for distance guidance, your eyes may cheat you if you will predict the distance visually. Once refueling is complete, move to the right side of the tanker and wait until your buddies will fill the tanks too (well, some day they will be able to). Stay calm and do not be afraid to fail and start over again, we are all here to learn something new. Good luck!
And some news regarding future updates. We are working on advanced tanker routes – at the moment three made: buddy, interception and orbit. These are not linked with difficulty levels directly, but still will affect the complication of the refueling process. First one is simplest – AI aircraft join the formation with you as a leader and wait for pre-contact. Second – tanker will appear away from you, its flight path will intersect yours so you can’t miss it, but will need to join the formation quickly. And last one – tanker will move in circles at random location, so you will need to find it first, then join formation, and last – refuel even when it turns around.
I was busy with personal stuff this week so wasn’t able to finish everything, also several bugs was reported which require further investigation. But don’t worry, work is going on, stay tuned!