McConnell now top KC-135 aircrew, follow-on training base

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Amanda Currier
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  McConnell is now the only base Air Force-wide to have three KC-135 Stratotanker flight simulators, making it the premier location for follow-on KC-135 pilot training.

The base had two KC-135 flight simulators before receiving an additional sim, Aug. 22, from Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., which is currently undergoing a realignment of its tanker mission.

McConnell was already the largest KC-135 pilot training location, next to Altus Air Force Base, Okla., where KC-135 pilots attend initial flight training, prior to the arrival of the new simulator. Now, flight instructors here expect McConnell's aircrew training tempo to increase by 38 percent - once the new sim is up and running, which should be toward the end of December.

"The addition of this third simulator is expected to increase aircrew training missions from more than 750 per year to more than 1,200 per year," said John Dock, project officer and quality assurance representative at the McConnell Aircrew Training Facility.

Each of McConnell's flight simulators is a full-sized, mechanical replica of a KC-135 cockpit that offers aircrews a virtual-reality flying experience. The windows, which line the front of the mock cockpits, are actually screens that display genuine flightlines and simulate realistic scenery.

McConnell's simulators are geared toward accurately mimicking the movements of a KC-135 in flight. They are primarily used for pilot-refresher training and to enable aircrews to practice emergency-avoidance maneuvers in a safe and controlled environment.

"Training in the flight simulator is much safer than training in the aircraft," Mr. Dock said. "Crashing a simulator, you'd walk away from versus an airplane, which you wouldn't."

Flight instructors here use a computer-based program with the simulators to imitate a wide variety of potentially-dangerous scenarios and to test aircrews' abilities to react appropriately. Instructors can also simulate flightlines and realistic atmospheric conditions at almost any base or airfield in the world. This allows pilots to practice the approaches and departures they would use at different locations before actually visiting those places.

"Our objective is to take pilots through a full range of activities to include emergency procedures and things that, obviously, you would not practice in an aircraft," said Rumsey Helms, flight safety site manager here. "What we do are things like instrumental approaches and engine fires along with a lot of routine training."

Pilots who train in the simulators here might also encounter crisis situations such as hydraulic and electrical malfunctions.

"If a student or crew member doesn't handle it the way we want the first time, we can duplicate the scenario and train them to a proficiency level where, if these things do occur in the airplane, they will be ready to handle them," said Mr. Helms.
Safety is not the only benefit to flight simulator training; it's also more economical than training in an aircraft.

"The simulator offers an extensive amount of savings for the taxpayers," Mr. Dock said. "It costs about $5,000 an hour to operate the KC-135 versus about $500 an hour to operate the KC-135 simulator. In a normal four-hour mission, they're saving about $38,000."

Eventually, the air crew training facility staff plans to transform the new simulator into a KC-135 RT trainer. These tankers are equipped to both transfer and receive fuel, and McConnell is the only tanker base Air Force-wide with KC-135 RTs. There are eight in McConnell's inventory.

"[The simulator] will be modified probably in a year or so to be an RT trainer," Mr. Dock said. "It will have a new visual system and a cockpit package that will add a refueling panel to the overhead portion of the simulator."

Down the road, the newest sim will also be electronically linked to its fellow simulators here. McConnell's original two simulators are already linked, so aircrews operating them can communicate with each other and practice formation trailing.

"One of the great things we can do with the simulators is link them together, so we can actually have two crews flying in formation," said Maj. Gen. Frederick Roggero, director of Air, Space and Information Operations, Headquarters Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill. while visiting the McConnell Aircrew Training Facility Aug. 26. "What we're working on in the future is to be able to hook these simulators to other simulators off of this base, all together, so we can do a full-time mission rehearsal and even gain more training for our crews and save the Air Force more in the way of flying hours and in fuel."

Another way McConnell plans to enhance training for aircrews is to add a Boom Operator Weapon System Trainer to the new simulator within 18 to 24 months. This would offer boom operators the same type of training other aircrew members are getting now.

"The boom will be able to actually get in that trainer, operate a boom and refuel a simulated aircraft," said General Roggero, who is selected to become chief of safety, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. "That way, the entire crew, of a KC-135 in this case, can get training."

Soon, every KC-135 aircrew member here will be able to reap the benefits of flight simulator training, enabling McConnell to truly take the lead in tanker flight crew training.