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Aviation History
1989
1989 - 2274.PDF
EXTENDING ISRAEL'S RANGE Israel has developed an aerial refuelling capability that enables its forces to strike anywhere in the Middle East. Now that capability is being marketed abroad. Arie Egozi flies in Israel's latest 707-based tanker. On October 1, 1985, Israeli Air Force McDonnell Douglas F-15s bombed Palestinian Liberation Organisation installations in Tunisia. To reach their target, 1,280 miles from Israel, the fighters were refuelled over the Mediterranean. So far, the Tunisia attack is the only mission where the Israelis have admitted using their air refuelling capability to extend the range of their fighters. There have been others, but they are still classified. Israel is now selling its air refuelling expertise abroad, and is to convert four Boeing 707s to tankers for the Royal Australian Air Force. For the first time, Flight has been allowed to fly on board an Israeli Air Force 707 tanker, and to witness flight- refuelling operations. Flying over the Mediterranean some distance from the Israeli coast, the 707 with Flight's reporter on board repeatedly refuelled Israeli Air Force F-15s, demonstrat ing the ease of operation of the aircraft's remote boom operator's station. Viewing the F-15s on a television screen, Lt D, on only his second training flight as a boom operator, was able to lock the flying boom into the fighter's refuelling receptacle within 30 seconds of the F-15 positioning itself some 40ft below the boom's tip. The Boeing 707-320 tankers operated by Israel have been converted by Israel Aircraft Industries' Bedek Aviation Division. Lt Col L, commander of the Israeli Air Force transport squadron that also operates the aerial refuellers, says the 707 is an ideal aircraft for the job. "It has the range and the operational characteristics that make it a very good aerial tanker. We can now refuel aircraft at very long distances and under almost all conditions," he says. The latest addition to the squadron's inventory is the universal aerial refueller. This 707 has been equipped with a centreline flying boom and two wing pods for probe and drogue refuelling. This aircraft is still being introduced, and combined boom/drogue refuelling has not yet been tested. "We are Bedek's Boeing 707-320 modification uses both boom and drogue systems still familiarising ourselves with the aircraft, in order to prepare the operational pro cedures for such an operation," says Lt Col L. The universal tanker is a boom-equipped 707 that has been fitted with two wingtip- mounted Sargeant Fletcher refuelling pods. The Israeli Air Force operates aircraft with receptacles and with probes, but the initiative to design a universal tanker came from Israel Aircraft Industries. Systems in the universal tanker now in operation are almost identical to those of the boom-only or pods-only types. The 707's wing centre fuel tank was selected as the main collector tank. During refuelling operations, wing tanks feed into the centre tank according to the flight engineer's pre-selected sequence. The four pumps of the air refuelling system are submerged in the centre tank, and feed fuel to the boom or drogues as required. Additional fuel is stored in drums arranged along the 707's main cabin. These drums gravity-feed the centre tank according to CG calculations made by the flight engineer. The additional fuel drums were put in the cabin despite the design team's recommendation 48 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 22 July 1989
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