Former Air Force brigadier general visits McConnell

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Abigail Klein
  • 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  Utilizing the experience stemming from more than 5,200 hours of flying, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Emiel Bouckaert toured McConnell June 7, as a visit hosted by the Friends of McConnell.

While at McConnell, General Bouckaert, a former KC-97 Stratotanker tanker wing commander in the Air National Guard who retired in 1988, participated in a KC-135 Stratotanker simulator.

Each of McConnell's flight simulators is a full-sized, mechanical replica of a KC-135 cockpit that offers a virtual-reality flying experience. The windows, which line the front of the mock cockpits, are screens that display genuine flightlines and simulate realistic scenery.

McConnell is the only base Air Force-wide to have three KC-135 simulators.

After "landing," General Bouckaert compared the advancement of the technology of the KC-135 simulator, to the KC-97 Stratotanker simulator.

"[With this simulation] you have all the visual you need," he said. "In the KC-97, we couldn't see the fields and didn't have the option have night versus day."

Col. Edsel Frye, 931st Air Refueling Group commander, accompanied General Bouckaert on the tour and commented General Bouckaert's flying ability.

"[General Bouckaert] still has it," Colonel Frye said. "Even though he hasn't flown for more than 20 years, he was able to successfully land a "tough and go" then a night landing--we just might have to recall him."

While here, General Bouckaert also compared the long-running history of the KC-135, to its short-lived predecessor, the KC-97, a cargo transport version of the B-29 Stratofortress.

"We had a real problem with the KC-97, for example, when we'd refuel aircraft we would always refuel downhill, which was sometimes a 300 to 500 foot descent," he said. As we would gain speed from going downhill, the pilot of the aircraft being refueled had to gain speed not only to keep up with us because of the new weight, but also because of the fuel added to their aircraft."

McConnell houses and maintains the world's largest and most diverse KC-135 Stratotanker fleet. McConnell flies more than 3,250 sortie hours a month. With the world's largest KC-135 Stratotanker fleet, McConnell flies 42 percent of Air Mobility Command's sortie hours.