When does a flight become too long? Three hours? Six? Half a day? The aircrew of an U.S. Air Force aerial refueler recently recalibrated the concept of a truly longhaul flight by flying a KC-46A Pegasus for 24.2 hours during an endurance test of the tanker replacing the service’s aging KC-135 Stratotanker fleet.
The record-breaking 9,000-mile flight, which marked the longest ever recorded for the Air Mobility Command (AMC), began May 5 when the crew from the 22nd Air Refueling Wing departed McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, the command announced this week.
