Nichols Martin
Boeing has completed fuel on-load tests needed for Federal Aviation Administration certification of the company’s refueling tanker aircraft.
KC-46 received 540,600 pounds of fuel and performed 68 contacts with other tankers as part of the pre-Supplemental Type Certificate test series, Boeing said Wednesday.
The recent flight test lasted for three hours and forty eight minutes, during which a KC-46 transferred 146,000 pounds of fuel to a similar aircraft and reached the maximum off-load capacity of 1,200 gallons per minute.
It was able to receive fuel from a second KC-46 and KC-135 and KC-10 units, Boeing added.
The company is working with the U.S. Air Force to complete the STC testing phase that covers installation of military systems into the 767-2C platform.
Boeing has recorded 2,700 flight hours and more than 2,500 aircraft contacts for its refueling test aircraft to date.
