KC135 missing over Strait

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The Hormuz Letter
@HormuzLetter
Iranian. The Middle East through the lens of oil, markets, and money.

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Troll attempt from Iran

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that’s the pattern they fly while refueling planes the fricking plane is still airborne at 26000 feet

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Why do these stratotanker planes do circles? Are they just constantly refueling aircraft?

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Why do these stratotanker planes do circles? Are they just constantly refueling aircraft?

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Yes, tanker planes often fly in large, repeating oval or circular patterns—often called "racetracks" or "anchors"—while refueling other aircraft.

Here is why they do this:

Predictability: The circular or oval pattern provides a predictable, steady flight path for receiving planes to find the tanker and connect safely.

Airspace Efficiency: These patterns are typically restricted to a specific, designated area (an aerial refueling track or "anchor") that allows them to stay in one place rather than flying in a straight line for hundreds of miles.

Continuous Operations: Tankers can stay in this pattern for hours, acting as a "flying gas station" for multiple aircraft, such as fighters or bombers, that take turns joining the formation."Racetrack"

Efficiency: As described on Quora and discussed on Reddit, the pattern consists of straight refueling legs connected by turns. According to a Reddit post, while some refueling is done on straight linear tracks (common for heavy transport planes), a significant amount of tactical refueling, especially over foreign,, hostile territory, involves orbiting in an anchor pattern.

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Training flights in Montana

Could be lib pilots that defected.

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KC in KC-135 stands for kerosene carrier

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Can’t tell if you’re joking or not, but that’s incorrect.

The K stands for fuel and the C stands for cargo. I worked on them for many years in the USAF.

Additionally, I saw a report that the aircraft landed safely. Link below

LINK

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The K stands for fuel and the C stands for cargo. I worked on them for many years in the USAF.

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I stand corrected. Thanks.

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That's Grandpa BUFF now (thanks HLC... iykyk)

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a guy I work with flew A3Ds in the Navy, "all three dead," no ejection seats

I know a Texaco pilot over there.

Thank you for your service. My son was a KC-135 crew chief; most of his deployments were to Qatar.

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Can’t be true, Iran has no military capability.

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Well, it’s not

Go move to Tehran

If they are still capable of jamming/spoofing AIS/GPS and were successful in messing with this flight, it may be time to light them up again.

1 Stratotanker is probably worth half a dozen power plants & refineries.