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The Army Otter-Caribou Association
Thanks for the pictures of the mid-air refueling of the Hawk and the Bou; I was on the Bou that day. At the time, I was assigned to 10th Air Transport Group as "special projects officer" (Not a TO&E position). Greg Olney was the man behind the project. He asked me to try and accomplish it or to determine whether or not it was feasible. We went to Davis Montham AFB and secured a "surplus" navy "buddy refueling system" which the Navy used to refuel their aircraft; usually when an aircraft was, for any reason, having difficulty in getting on board the carrier. Long Story Short, we then took it back to Ft. Benning and with full coordination of the Mohawk outfit (they had a Hawk fitted with a probe) we tied the buddy system into the hydraulic system of the Bou (for extending and retracting the hose), put the system to trial. Needless to say, it did work. AVscom in St. Louis was NOT in the loop and they would probably have excreted a brick or two if they had known about the "unauthorized modification" to the Caribou system. As the project officer I was on board, but back in those days we didn't do all that we should have done to actually record the details of all personnel involved, etc. What with the press of everyday business, we just did not do so. I now wish that we had taken the time and effort. Anyway, thanks for bringing back the memories of the time spent on that project. I am in Guyana on a project for the International Civil Aviation Organization trying to help them with regulations training flight operations inspectors, etc. It is challenging. Back home in August is the plan. Regards, Jim Hooker However, credit to the photographer is required along with a link back to our web site. please contact Bruce Silvey via Email Any contributions would be greatly appreciated. All photos will be returned. Back To Main Page 
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