First Air-To-Air Synthetic Fuel Transfer

The US Air Force is wasting no time in testing their new synthetic jet fuel. Just yesterday they marked another milestone when the 50/50 blend of JP-8 and fuel derived from the Fisher-Tropsch method was transferred via aerial refueling from a KC-135 to an F-22 Raptor. This also marks the first flight of a Raptor using the new fuel. Neither the KC-135 from March ARB or the F-22 from Edwards AFB were modified to perform the test. "Our goal was to complete the test plan and to support the certification," said Maj. Drew Allen, 411 FLTS chief of standardization and evaluation and also the test pilot. "We wanted to prove that there was no negative effect in performing the aerial refueling using the synthetic fuel." This test moves the USAF another step closer to certifying the synthetic fuel for the entire Air Force fleet as well as moving them another step away from dependence on foreign oil.

[Lockheed Martin photo]
[AF Link]

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