on the
EIGHT UNLAIR FORCE ROTC cadets walk on the ^ -» «- tv yr
Tarmac toward the refueling plane. PHOTOS AND STORY BY MATT MlLLER
i J M
THE NEBRASKA AIR GUARD refuels a F-117A Nighthawk, more commonly known as a stealth, in midair Tuesday somewhere over New Mexico. The Air Guard refueled two stealths that day.
Sixty-four Stealths, costing a total of about $45 million each, were built before production stopped in 1990.
Air Force ROTC cadets I
experience stealth mission I
OVER NEW MEXICO - Eight UNL Air
Force ROTC cadets took a flight Tuesday
thev wiil never forget.
The beverage selection was minimal
water only
And there were no flight attendants.
The seats were red canvas netting sup
ported only bv a metal pole that ran under the
middle of the seat
But not one ot the cadets complained.
It's hard to complain about being some of
the few Americans who get to see an F i ! ~A
Nighthdwk Stealth Fightei from fewer than
40 feet away
I h e e 1 ght c adet s w ere a I m<'sl ail
l niversitv if Nebraska-Lincoln treshmen
and sophomores picked bv U tterv to flv on a
steaith relueling mission
dmior Shawn Pebiev. Ad R( •> >' punhc
111 ajn ofi'cer -aid the undeieiasstnei: were
c ho sen u ‘ n.ev ■_ * u i c expe ne tu : t ne \;i
: orce in n tion
! h>. \ir i ■ . ■ • r. : cotea the s ' ! '' R
:-.dueone pi..me ;.wo cMP ' oM
■ duels. 0.1,0 lee. "o •. :
. o or K-' it o . cru n.o k . .o - e ■ ;
: Proem S !>u die vii or n< ’ o ut
auies per hour at 4>.wO( reel
•\ big uiflerenee i he : : e-u • . -o
45 mail ion
"Little movement', n ■ me mwi : the stivk
makes Fig nn w ements on the > >ther end of the
broom,” he said.
A stealth, however, is one of the easiest
planes to refuel because of its technology,
Minnick said.
"It's not as hard as what it looks like, but
we like to make people think it is.” he said.
The cadets were not only amazed with the
sight of the fighters, but also the technology
especially the stealths' immunity to radar.
"It was weird. Usually the pilots can see
planes on radar, but the pilots had to try and
make visual contact," he said "Thev were
constantly scanning the skies.”
freshman Shelley Bauer said it was "phe
nomenal to see the stealth up close and per
sonal.”
But the mi 'Mon was much more mean
meful and memorable because die cadets did
more than wan h
"We got to do ever, thing run the boom,
uik to the nijotv it m the coc kpit, talk to the
:iav mator e -cr dong out push the pilot's birt
'ons aim i.v tile plane
. Pc .idem c'-.ette'tlei'.t vpp ‘ cjuite the
■ ,o.pe. U ij.ee ■ me Uchtcm were out of
. .. : c c !ic p \ c essiops and hiiw
tied ihe v.t re rv iicii Pic meaitlm were
'icrc . ’ c me dctnim iett. thev uist
..arnica am.
Ni ' die eompaaii'Cif though. .And as soon
.jf pic;, stepped oil the plane, ever', one could
• mi', talk about how amazing their ilight had
been
FRESHMAN BUSINESS ADMINIS
TRATION MAJOR ANDREW
CHRISTEN looks out one of the
four windows in the fuselage o!
the KC-135R on the way tn Yr .
Mexico Tuesday.
JUNIOR SHAWN PEBlEY 'earns
how to move the refueling doom
in the bank os the KC-135R as
boom operator Staff Sgt. Randy
Douglas teaches him whai some
of the controls do. The cadets,
however, weren’t allowed to do
any of the actually refueling.