Refueling in sky with ease

For Staff Sgt. Jared Waleithner, it’s just another day at work.

But his job is a bit different from the daily grind - he refuels aircraft in mid-air as part of Beale Air Force Base’s 940th Air Refueling Wing. And on Thursday, it was even more unusual - he got to refuel seven of the Air Force’s F-16 Thunderbird exhibition planes over Nevada.

“I’m called the ‘boom operator,’ but it’s funny, because people think that means I work in construction,” Waleithner said with a laugh, mid-flight in a KC-135 stratotanker.

The flight and refueling of the Thunderbirds was part of the celebration of Air Force Week, which will culminate with the Capital City Air Show on Saturday and Sunday at Mather Airport in Sacramento.

The KC-135, a refueling aircraft with four turbofans, took off from the base in Yuba County just after 9 a.m. and soared to about 21,000 feet. It was carrying 70,000 pounds of fuel, which made the total weight of the aircraft about 190,000 pounds, according to Col. Al Reif of the 940th.

“We’ll be offloading what is equal to about 12,000 gallons of fuel to the Thunderbirds during the flight,” Reif explained before take-off.

“We do about seven to 10 missions per week to refuel, but with the Thunderbirds, it’s rare.”

Maj. Summer Fields has been flying for about 10 years, and has only refueled the Thunderbirds once before, about seven years ago.

“It’s unusual, even for us,” she said with a gleam in her eye as the cavernous plane shook and a bevy of media as well as Air Force personnel clamored for the best shots and bird’s eye views through the small windows.

As the sleek, shiny red, white and blue Thunderbirds - F-16 jets - flew one by one under the long, cylindrical fueling tube, Waleithner steadied his hand on the joystick in the boom pit, which is a cockpit-type bubble in the bottom of the plane.

Guests are allowed to lie in each of the three slots and view the refueling; in which the fueling tube connects to the top of the F-16 and transports the fuel from the KC-135.

“My dad got his first star the day I was born,” Waleithner said as he readied himself with a headset. “I am the youngest of 11 children, and seven of us have been in the Air Force Reserve. I can’t fly yet, but I am going to try to get my pilot training and fly this thing.”

After the refueling was over, two rare and somewhat esteemed guests were waiting on the flight line - F-22s, also known as the Raptors.

The supersonic, state-of-the-art stealth aircraft usually reside at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, but were stopped at Beale for a brief respite until the air show this weekend.

“It definitely doesn’t get old, but I do want to fly,” Waleithner said after his mission was complete.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Kymm Mann can be reached at 749-4707 or kmann@appealdemocrat.com