News>When Left Becomes Right: 927th ARW fly in reverse at 2011 Rodeo
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Major Nathan Diaz, a KC-135 Stratotanker pilot with the 63rd Air Refueling Squadron, performs pre-flight checks before his flight during Air Mobility Command's Rodeo 2011 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., July 26, 2011. Large Package Week is an exercise that utilizes several Air Force C-130 and C-17 aircraft to strategically airdrop troops and cargo onto a specified location in prepAration for real world contingency response. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Greg C. Biondo)
Major Zach Davidson, a KC-135 Stratotanker pilot with the 63rd Air Refueling Squadron conducts pre-aerial refueling checks during Air Mobility Command's Rodeo 2011 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., July 26, 2011. Rodeo is the U.S. Air Force's and AMC's premier international combat skills and flying operations competition designed to develop and improve techniques, procedures, and interoperability, while optimizing international mobility partnerships and enhancing mobility operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by SSgt. Greg C. Biondo)
A C-17A Globemaster III recieves fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker with the 927th Air Refueling Wing during Air Mobility Command's Rodeo 2011 at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., July 26, 2011. Rodeo is the U.S. Air Force's and AMC's premier international combat skills and flying operations competition designed to develop and improve techniques, procedures, and interoperability, while optimizing international mobility partnerships and enhancing mobility operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by SSgt. Greg C. Biondo)
8/1/2011 - McChord Air Force Base, Wash. -- It was just another flying competition until Maj. Nathan Diaz and Maj. Zach Davidson were asked to fly their airplane in reverse.
The two pilots are part of the 927th Air Refueling Wing, a reserve unit stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. Their skills were put to the test recently at the 2011 Rodeo, a competition based out of McChord AFB that develops and improves techniques and procedures to enhance air mobility operations. The biennial tournament brings together 150 teams and three thousand people from the Air Force, Air Force Reserve, and allied nations. Although the competition involves all aspects of air mobility operations, Diaz and Davidson were concerned with how they were going to fly their plane in reverse to complete an aerial refueling mission.
"A lot of the tasks at the Rodeo are difficult," Diaz said. Diaz, a member of the 63rd Air Refueling Squadron, was the flight commander on this flight, meaning the ultimate responsibility of success or failure rested on his shoulders. He added, "They're especially difficult when you only get to practice them once or twice. Tonight, we get to fly in reverse."
While many may think that flying an airplane in reverse would require bending the laws of physics, the pilots' task that evening was to reverse the way they normally turn the airplane. Because the lead pilot usually sits in the left seat, it is more natural to turn the airplane left. Their instructions called for them to only make right turns that night.
"It's like a Nascar driver being dropped onto a racetrack in England," Davidson said. Also with the 63rd ARS, Davidson was optimistic about the mission. "We love a challenge."
The competition was well underway when the pilots suited up for the evening flight. With temperatures dropping as the night air rolled in from the Pacific, the pilots were eager to get underway. The previous day they were delayed by a pilot error that ended up costing them valuable points.
"The timing error wasn't fixable," Diaz added. All participants of a Rodeo mission are judged, and an error from one team could ripple down to every other team involved on the mission. "Fortunately, our error didn't affect our receiver. We were able to link up and didn't cost him any points."
Points drive the Rodeo competition, with each team competing for the top spot in their category. The Rodeo has been a tradition since 1956, and carries the same purpose today as it did during the Cold War. With more than a decade of sustained combat operations around the world, there is a serious undertone to the competition - many Airmen have used their skill over the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan and understand their jobs can be life and death, just like their predecessors' in previous wars.
"Your job in the Rodeo is to take the airplane and do things in a very specific order," said Senior Master Sgt. Dicky Hunt. Hunt is the superintendent of the 96th Air Refueling Squadron, based in Hickam AFB, Hawaii. Hunt is a veteran of five Rodeos and was judging the reservists that evening. "That C-17 Globemaster needs gas. It's these guys' job to unload it to them and get them downrange."
The ultimate goal, explained Dickey, is to have the crews that participate in the Rodeo bring the lessons they learned back to their home units and teach others what they gained.
"We're demonstrating our capability of global reach. The Rodeo takes crews and fine tunes their skills even more so they can take that back to their units."
Although there are many Rodeo veterans who come back for each competition as either participants or 'umpires', each Rodeo also seasons a fresh crop of troops.
"It's my first Rodeo, and I can tell this thing takes years of planning," said Staff Sgt. Jennifer Vorhies, the training manager for the 446th Maintenance Group. "The Rodeo is taken very seriously by the people competing. They take a lot of pride in this."
While there are always opportunities to overcome challenges in the modern Air Force, Vorhies said that the Rodeo gives people the opportunity to see how things are done by other teams across the Air Force.
"People get great training, meet new folks, and see how they operate," Vorhies said. "I even saw some things I can bring back to my unit."
The reservists' refueling mission that night was a success, and devoid of any mechanical failures on the fifty year-old KC-135. And they discovered that they could turn right after all.
"We did everything we could do in our airplane," Diaz said.
