January 2018 FLYPAST 77REFUELLING 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
THE TRISTAR
CHANGED THE FACE OF RAF
LONG-RANGE DEPLOYMENTS;
SQN LDR BOB TUXFORD AFC
DESCRIBES HIS ROLE IN
INTRODUCING THE GIANT TO
SERVICE
my first flight in the Tristar
K.1, a suitable airframe had to
be found in which to make the
initial assessments of the refuelling
equipment. Ejection seat test-
bed Canberra B.2 WH876, ‘B’
Squadron, fortuitously had a nose-
mounted AAR probe. The generous
speed range and endurance of the
Canberra made it ideal. I flew
WH876 against a Vickers VC10
K.3 tanker to establish its nominal
refuelling envelope.
On July 16, 1985, I was flying
behind the recently rolled-out K.1
ZD950. Without the luxury of an
observer (WH876 was configured
as a single-seater) I used a throat
mic and tape recorder to capture
my thoughts. The hoses had been
trailed for the first time only two
days before so many parties were
interested in how the Mk.17T
HDU performed.
Flow-field checks around the rear
of the tanker presented no undue
concerns,
although there
was some apparent
‘jiggling’ of the hose
and basket combination
when fully extended. I
braced myself for the
first operational ‘prod’
against the Tristar.
The first contacts
appeared to be ‘soft’,
with the basket pulling
off the probe and the
hose winding in slowly.
After adjustments to
the HDU motor
settings to
establish the
correct
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