Boeing has flown the extended fly-by-wire (FBW) flight refuelling boom of the KC-767 tanker throughout its full-flight envelope after deploying the device for the first time on 21 September. The event marks a major milestone in the KC-767 tanker development, and showed that with the more advanced FBW-controlled system “we can get to corners of the envelope that weren’t available on other aircraft”, says Rickey Kahler, KC-767 chief flight test boom operator. “We’re just getting into Phase 1 of air refuelling tests and an important part of that is the remote vision system.” Deliveries to Japan begin in February 2007, followed by deliveries to Italy in mid-2007.
Source: Flight International
