Aerial Refueling

The Aerial Refueling project was proposed by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) to better research training and development of aerial refueling boom operator stations. 

Outcomes and Additional Information

• The team was challenged to create a training simulation with:

  1. • Two flight paths, one in a standard operations elliptical orbit and one in an infinite straight line, 

     • Receiver paths for the aircraft to approach to astern position and from astern to refueling operations range,

     • Realistic mountains, ocean, and urban environments,

     • Turbulence with custom or randomized settings for gust, direction, duration, and intervals,

     • Data logging of fuel transfer, connect and disconnect times, and turbulence, and

     • Operator stations modeled from the KC-46 with displays and controls for the aerial refueling process to control boom movement in a realistic manner.

• There are multiple tanker and receiver aircraft in the program, including Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, and McDonnell Douglas F-15E Strike Eagle.

• The students modeled the envelop range and boom control within in the virtual environment, controlled manually using physical joystick and throttle controls. 

• Future work will include fully implemented gauges and switches, improved realism with boom and weather effects, communications between receiver and tanker, and a multiplayer game mode.