MacDill Refueling Wing meets USAF's Thunderbirds

MacDill Refueling Wing meets USAF's Thunderbirds: At 23,000 feet over the northern Gulf of Mexico 7 jets from the United State Air Forces Thunderbirds refueled on their way to an air show in Melbourne Florida. They refueled with a MacDill based KC-135 Stratotanker from the 927th Refueling Wing of the 6th Air Mobility Command. The KC-135 can hold 83,000 pounds of fuel. The fuel is fed to the Thunderbirds jet after pilot of the F-16 hooks up to a boom on the KC-135 and a boom operator in the back of the KC-135 controls the flow of fuel into the Thunderbird F-16. The KC-135 is capable of fueling many other aircraft including the B-52, F-117, A-10 and many others. The MacDill Air Refueling wing serves missions around the world including most recently refueling fighter jets involved in fighting the Islamic State.? [Skip O'Rourke | tampabay.com]