Is aerial refueling slower than ground refuel?

[hmleao]

Well, that pretty much is the question xD.

[d0ppler]

I believe it's more or likely the same fuel flow, but I'm not sure. But usually it's faster to refuel in the air, obviously depending on where the tanker is in relation to the closest airport.

[Mr_sukebe]

Do you mean in DCS, or reality?

My assumption is that it would be faster on the ground, as it's a safer environment to conduct fueling.

It's worth remembering that drogue and probe is (as I understand it), significantly slower than boom, as used by Air Force aircraft.

[Wroblowaty]

On 3/14/2025 at 10:23 AM, Mr_sukebe said:

It's worth remembering that drogue and probe is (as I understand it), significantly slower than boom, as used by Air Force aircraft.

Maybe slower for individual jet (and not that much slower as many believe, as limitation here is not the fuel pumps capacity of the tanker, but fuel system pressure limitations of receiving aircraft), but if you take into account that you can usually have two planes connected at once with probe and drouge vs one at a time for boom, than overall time required to fill up a pair or 4-ship will be in the probe and drouge systems favour.

[friggindead]

Thanks GROK lol:

Comparison: F/A-18C Hornet SPR vs. Probe-and-Drogue

• Fuel Transfer Rate:
  • SPR (Ground): Up to 300 GPM (2,040 lbs/min), limited by the aircraft’s ground refueling system and the external fuel source.
  • Probe-and-Drogue (Air): 300–600 GPM (1,800–3,600 lbs/min), depending on the tanker, often exceeding the SPR rate with high-capacity tankers.
• Key Difference: The probe-and-drogue system can achieve higher rates with certain tankers (e.g., 600 GPM), doubling the SPR’s maximum, but it’s variable and situational. SPR is more consistent but capped lower due to ground equipment design and safety standards.
• Context: SPR is for pre-flight preparation on the ground, while probe-and-drogue is for in-flight mission extension, so their use cases don’t directly compete.

Edited March 26 by friggindead

[Steel Jaw]

Well, as someone with 200+ AAR in the Hornet, which is quicker dependsupon how many times I fall out of the basket...