As the Air Force gets ready for the arrival of its newest aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft, a diverse group of Airmen is working hard to make sure the KC-46A Pegasus is ready to meet the service’s needs. Lt. Col. John Mikal is one of them.
Mikal, a reservist KC-135 Stratotanker instructor pilot assigned to the 370th Flight Test Squadron, is also a KC-46 test pilot and member of the team that’s putting the Pegasus through a series of critical pre-production tests.
The Boeing Company developed the KC-46 from its 767 jet airliner and is scheduled to deliver 179 of the aircraft to the Air Force by 2028. The first 18 combat-ready tankers are scheduled to be delivered by August 2017.
To meet that timeline, Boeing is working closely with the Air Force to put the KC-46 through its paces. The company’s first test aircraft, a Boeing 767-2C, touched down at Edwards Air Force Base for the first time Oct. 15 for several days of fuel onload fatigue testing. During these tests, the KC-46 flew in close formations with a KC-135 and KC-10 Extender to see how the aircraft performed in different aerial refueling positions. While no fuel was passed, Boeing engineers were able to test the stress and strain on the Pegasus.
Mikal flew as the aircraft commander of the KC-135 during the first aerial refueling maneuvers of a KC-46 behind a KC-135 and in close formation with both the KC-10 and KC-46 on Oct. 19. Two days later, he flew as a pilot aboard the KC-46 during an aerial refueling receiver onload fatigue test behind a KC-10. He was the first Air Force reservist to fly the 767-2C, the commercial test variant of the KC-46.
“It was a tremendous honor to participate in and conduct KC-46 testing with the test team,” Mikal said. “The KC-46 will be an amazing operational aircraft, and I’m humbled to have the opportunity to be a part of this amazingly talented test team.”
Mikal isn’t the only Air Force reservist from the 370th FLTS qualified to take part in the KC-46 testing. The 370th has two KC-46 initial cadre boom operators — Master Sgts. Aaron Ray and Scott Scurlock — who will be taking part in Pegasus refueling testing in the coming months.
The 370th FLTS is an embedded Air Force Reserve unit with a mission of providing KC-135 aerial refueling test support to both operational and test-configured receiver aircraft at Edwards AFB’s 412th Test Wing. The Reserve unit also leads management and execution of the business effort mission at Edwards AFB, which utilizes operational Air Mobility Command KC-135 and KC-10 tankers to support routine refueling of non-test configured 412th TW receiver aircraft.
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