A 45-Hour Flight!? Boeing's KC-46A Pegasus Makes 1st Around The World Flight

[@mistersquirrel0]

KIAB to KIAB: frequent flyer miles = 0

[@JishyFishy4106]

What ?? Bangalore to Bangalore ??

[@commerce-usa]

Great that they brought the doc onboard. The information on flight crew fatigue is something that benefits all aviation.

[@NealTherrien]

My son is a new KC-46 Boom Operator. Will be finishing up his last month or so of school. He makes the 4th Generation of military in our family! My Father(US Army), Grandfather(US Navy), and myself (US Air Force)all served. Absolutely proud of my son!!!

[@keithjohnson7613]

The whole family has been fully indoctrinated, nice !

[@shadowfox911]

@@keithjohnson7613 you have UFO and conspiracy theory vids. No room to talk lol.

[@keithjohnson7613]

@@NealTherrien I’m sure you’re vaccinated

[@NealTherrien]

​@@keithjohnson7613Our family legacy of military service goes back four+ generations protecting people like you. I suppose you voted for Kamala Harris too.

[@keithjohnson7613]

I want to be onboard for the fantasy flight when the Pegasus actually goes pole to pole !!

[@peterkotara]

That's pretty impressive.

[@creigiihtondenynis39]

As a former C-5 flight engineer I have dome many A/R missions. The longest one 18 hours!!!! I cant imagine suffering through 45 hours must have been horrendous........

[@afb2]

Very very impressive. Especially since it was also refuelling other aircraft.

[@jest0riz0r]

Wait, only four pilots? I expected six. Would love to know their shifts, has to be 8 on 8 off or something, right?

[@rdspam]

“At first, the two Magellan crews took 10-hour shifts, but over time those shrank to between six and seven hours. “

[@jest0riz0r]

@@rdspam Interesting, thanks!

[@tripleceven]

Had the same question on my mind🤔

[@markbrown4442]

Still can't beat a KC-10

[@rcpilotreal]

I met the boom operator on this flight in cold lake!!

[@MarcFutoran]

Our military is the best for a reason, prepared for all scenarios. Mission Ready.

[@shadowfox911]

"McConnell Air Force Base is on crack ."- McGuire AFB.

[@derekkimball6662]

This is the “hold my beer” moment.

[@reserva120]

Nearly 25 year for a simple plane - the level of incompetence of air force procurement is staggering in it’s stupidity

[@PavlosPapageorgiou]

"We really enjoy flying and passing fuel around"

[@sainnt]

Absolutely amazing!!

[@FMichael1970]

Surprised to see a door didn't pop off or the refueling boom malfunction...

[@EuropeanRailfan-AM]

That's one huge accomplishment

[@mmichaelnowell1512]

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@AshNorton747]

That's CRAZY.

[@JonathanStanley]

Should have flown east for a quadruple-sunrise innit...

[@ackack612]

Honestly, why anyone would be even mildly surprised is beyond me...the aircraft is more than capable, the flight crew equally so. I'd be surprised if the biggest (potential) pilot issue wasn't boredom, plain and simple. The service is on track to keep one aircraft type flying for 100 years...ONE HUNDRED YEARS, the Wright Bros first flight a scant 121 years ago. Think about that for a moment... Acknowledging the march of advancement of the relevant technologies, how difficult can it then be to fly nonstop around the globe? Really.

[@okay_then3337]

I’m suprised that it doesn’t have a ability to refuel itself from the fuel it is carrying instead of gaveling to rely on another tanker to refuel it.

[@NealTherrien]

Speed 650 mph, range 7,350 miles (farther with air refueling).

[@loadblock4995]

Now they need to get their astronauts home

[@kevinmassey2467]

Go, Blue! Kevin- Vet USAF Air Force Proud!

[@jimkennedy9242]

Go USA!

[@stevenholt1867]

In theory a Dreamliner can fly around the world.

[@frankholden237]

Almost but not quite as impressive as the logistics involved in Operation Black Buck 42 years ago.

[@danielb2571]

With a program riddled with set backs, it's nice it can finally do something right.

[@EngelsAviation]

767 💪🏻🦾👊

[@Vandal-ml3mb]

as a retired fighter pilot... this sounds boring as hell!!!! great accomplishment, better you than me. 😛

[@Al_AmeenMD]

Wow

[@players_aviation]

Well glad all 767 variants all my favourite

[@VictorSilva-qf2tu]

Nice cockpit.

[@mickboakes7023]

Amazing achievement.

[@georgeclarke9344]

Air Force, a great way of life!

[@FN-rr6mk]

No oil added ?

[@cruisinguy6024]

They had the crew chief crawl out on the wing mid flight to top it off

[@ArmyofSeaturtles]

the pw4000 are good on oil consumption u can fly those things for days before being a top off Cf6 however bring a case of oil lol

[@verdebusterAP]

Engines for commercial aircraft are designed to operate for days or longer its why planes turn around so quickly at airports There videos from PW, GE and RR that show them running engines on test stands for days or till failure Those tests are designed to make the engine as efficient as possible with minimal maintenance Look up operation chrome dome The USAF keep a number B-52 armed with nukes airborne 24/7 for 7 years At peak, they had between 44-75 planes flying sorties between 6-12 hours or longer

[@cruisinguy6024]

@@verdebusterAP the logistics behind Operation Chrome Dome are nothing short of astounding - and that was with tech from over 50 years ago. Modern turbofans are much more reliable than what they had during those continual nuclear missions.

[@verdebusterAP]

@@cruisinguy6024 The PW4000 needs 6.5 gallons of oil per engine I would wager they probably had one 55 gallon drum full of oil onboard and there was likely a way to transfer for it to engine if needed 45 hours I need to cot , a lots of tv shows to binge watch , coffee and some damn good food

[@mrkc10]

Impressive

[@gamerboi9557]

This is very impressive, but I wonder why the kc46-a doesn't have winglets, I know its based on a 767 without winglets but seeing as they make so many modifications would it be all that difficult to add them?

[@Assmagnus]

Good question. Perhaps to reduce wake turbulence.

[@jaysmith1408]

Strange that for such a long range, long endurance aircraft, they forgot the raked wingtips. Side note, could they work with the -300 wings, or would they need to use blended?

[@omrflrs2736]

Impressive plane

[@jtirello3_111]

Yet another reason why the USAF is the greatest Air Force in the world. 🇺🇸

[@carholic-sz3qv]

thats not a reason lol!!!!!

[@janetcsg]

Why do we even need A350-900ULRs anymore?

[@SierraGolfNiner]

What’s a KC46A’s max range if it’s using the onboard fuel entirely for itself? Heavy for sure, but probably a solid range extension.

[@NealTherrien]

Speed 650 mph Range 7,350 miles (without air refueling). Ceiling: 43,000 ft. Fuel Capacity: 212,299 lbs

[@lutomson3496]

many aircraft have done this including the KC-135 nothing special wonder how much boeing paid to have this done

[@twtoombs]

Awesome

[@jmbaka007]

Crazy

[@rudderboost4188]

3 B52s did that in the fifties, no flight surgeon and not as many pilots per plane. A good tanker for lobbyists, less so for the USAF!

[@philiproseel3506]

An amazing accomplishment, but I came for the flerf comments. A few Airbus fanboys but no flat Earthers…yet.

[@dodoubleg2356]

Impressive, but not surprising.

[@Trainmaster909]

It's like a global game of fuel hot potato

[@TheBrowncoat2112]

It would have been more impressive if the tanker had completed the circumnavigation without relying on mid-air refueling itself.

[@lsubesteva]

Impossible

[@TheBrowncoat2112]

@@lsubesteva Agreed, but the boast of an around the world flight is meaningless if you’re relying on mid-air refueling because, theoretically, the plane could remain aloft indefinitely.

[@christopherkozal7987]

Uh…..perhaps you need to research ranges of widebody commercial aircraft, then military tankers, cargo & finally fighter jets. You need to reset your expectations. This is one helluva achievement.

[@Geoffr524]

Would be interesting if they were able to tap into the refueling tank, and run off of that, plus using the wing tanks. But they probably had to justify the 45 hour flight by doing regular refueling along its circumnavigation route.

[@GintaPPE1000]

The point is to demonstrate the USAF can deliver cargo or fuel anywhere in the world. Flying around the world without landing proves nothing - the USAF did that in 1949, and we regularly do it today with B-2 missions.

[@joso5554]

How many crews on board?!

[@joso5554]

And how many in flight refuelings ?

[@cruisinguy6024]

Did you watch the video?

[@kingduck3192]

Didn’t the voyager do this in the 80s?

[@DwightHackbarth]

Great

[@dan92677]

I want to know if they could have made it around the world using their own fuel supply ?

[@pewpew9736]

Good looking airplane ✈️ 😂

[@5.43v]

Omega air refueling

[@Maxjohnproductions]

Plane reg?

[@appleblows1]

I think US made the right decision to choose Boeing even though the project is over budget and late. The alternative is too big and provides less flexibility in terms of network coverage(number of aircraft) and potential capable operating bases. US already has C17s and C130s to do what A330T offering for troop transport in addition to tanker capability. I'm sure 330 capabilities are better suited for some other countries needs.

[@M167A1]

There's nothing at all wrong with the airframe. It's the high-tech camera-driven refueling system. If they had just used a conventional system, they would have been fine. There have been tanker 767s flying for 30 years without incident.

[@DEUTSCHES_KAISERREICH..]

I mean, USA will always choose Boeing over other non American manufacturers, beginning at the fact that that order would benefit the US economy and creating jobs. Also, the USA is very patriotic, and so, some people would freak out about the fact that the USAF or NAVY arent flying American Planes

[@GintaPPE1000]

@@DEUTSCHES_KAISERREICH.. The US military is plenty willing to buy foreign aircraft when they're actually as good or better than what domestic manufacturers produce. You simply aren't as good at doing that as you think. The US Army has nearly 500 militarized EC145s in service as the UH-72 Lakota, and the backbone of the USCG's helicopter fleet is MH-65 Dolphin, a version of the French AS365 with extra fuel tanks and improved all-weather capability. The US Navy has used a British aircraft - the Hawk - as its trainer for 40 years, even if it was modified and license-produced by McDonnell Douglas. The USAF's new T-7 trainer is a Saab design that Boeing is modifying and building under license. The USAF bought the English Electric Canberra in the 1950s, the USMC bought large numbers of the original Harrier (AV-8A) under license, SOCOM bought C-41 and CN-235 transports from Spain plus C-27s from Italy when US designs were too big for their needs, and there are dozens of smaller (

[@verdebusterAP]

@@DEUTSCHES_KAISERREICH.. Its not being patriotic its just been practical if you honestly pull back the layers and trace the route of the problem. The USAF waited entirely too long to replace its KCs

[@JxH]

"Project Magellan" - *definitely do not land in Cebu.*

[@kingduck3192]

I get what you’re going for but if you’re going to the Philippines definitely the best airport 😊

[@JxH]

@@kingduck3192 Yep, it's the beach that was the area of concern. ;-) !!

[@JxH]

0:10 Normally when I see "MHZ", I'm forced to comment "* MHz". But in this case, it's fine !!

[@paolo11x11]

Magellan is pronounced muh-jellan.

[@SimpleFlyingNews]

Our editor thought so too. But then we looked it up and learned that this is how it’s pronounced in the UK.

[@bengibbardofficial]

@@SimpleFlyingNews the project wasn't british

[@tingbase84]

Could of done this a decade ago if they'd just gone with the mrtt

[@bartsolari5035]

Boeing ate about 8 billion $$$ on the KC-46...friends in the DOD & Pentagon

[@kia1034]

And that's a Boeing made for military not civilian.

[@philiproseel3506]

Air Force

[@kia1034]

@@philiproseel3506 are you happy now

[@us1fedvet]

Good legs

[@DanniChan_Worldwide]

Say what you will about the US military, but nobody beats us in logistics! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@DomAviation]

First! This is crazy!

[@DomAviation]

I don't know how they did it, but they have air refueling!

[@12345fowler]

Operation gladly sponsored by Boeing to help raise their image about this catastrophic project. An air asset doing the job it was supposed to do who would have known ? I bet even Boeing was surprised it worked this time. Now they still have to manudacture them without leaving tools everywhere inside the aircraft, have the US AIrforce accept them for a change, and make money out of this contract.

[@rudivandoornegat2371]

Partly stupid, partly good for science. Stupid because all destinations around the globe you can reach by flying equal or less than half of the globe. Good because you have proof you can stay 45 hours in the air for long duration missions, crew fatigue data, etc. Or you like the scenario of the series: Into the night.

[@drevil2675]

A330 MRTT is much better

[@TestingSuff]

The number of mispronounced words in these videos is getting insulting.

[@dr18037]

Which ones?

[@bigonicha3225]

Wasting tax payers money to play around.Wow nice job

[@BIBIWCICC]

How many bits fell off? Did it have to be scrapped after landing?

[@cruisinguy6024]

Stupid comment 🤦‍♂️

[@d.b.cooper1]

Great use of taxpayer funds! All to do something everyone knew could be done anyway.

[@eduardodaquiljr9637]

Boeing not alien who ate rivets and bolts.

[@F14foreverF14]

Boeing? Nah! I'd rather the A-330-MRTT or better yet A-350-F-MRTT

[@stevesmoneypit6137]

That funny 😂

[@nannyg666]

what a colossal waste of fuel and wear and tear on the mechanicals. There is nothing they "learned" in this useless "feat". Our tax dollars hard at work.

[@cabottaxi]

Waste of valuable resources for a vanity project.

[@dixienormous9052]

Flat Earth baby

[@jaycee5676]

impressive but a complete waste of taxpayer money. That mission would of cost millions....

[@mattmcc8094]

Not a big deal. The USAF has been doing this since 1949 is all kinds of planes, B-50, B-52, B-1B just to name a few. I think it was a bit more challenging 75 years ago vs today. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Lady_II

[@Ash-u5s1n]

Awesome