That’s just thuper! 
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We prefer to call it fabulous.
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I know initially I had issues in the Tomcat with the forward part of the canopy blocking my view and making it difficult for me to maintain formation. I’ve found that if I hunch/slouch down in my chair (Track ir) my visibility improves an it’s a lot easier for me to get into/ stay in the basket. Wings in bomb mode can help as well if the maneuver flaps are messing up your trim.
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Oh sweet summer child, that ain’t what’s happening there 
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That greasy handprint was already on the car when I test drove it.
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Y’all:
There’s a joke to be made here about how long I stayed plugged, and I’m still finding myself bouncing like crazy in the wake turbulence behind the Herc, and still feel like I’m fighting the basket like trying to feed a two-year old their broccoli, but it’s a start, right?
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If you encounter the wake, you should displace yourself to the side or below immediately. Approaching the basket, you shouldn’t feel anything of the wake.
Close formation flying takes practice, especially in the sim. Your brain needs to learn to interpret the spacial information correctly without having accurate information of where your head is pointing. It’s really a bit like learning to drive a bicycle backwards.
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Also you should try steaming the broccoli instead of cooking it in water. Stays more crunchy and sweet that way. Toddler will gladly stuff her own face that way.
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Just for reference (I’m really not a great virtual pilot) the plane I’m flying makes a big difference to me.
In VR the easiest by far is the harrier. Then the tomcat. And I tried the hornet last night and I felt approaching the basket was a lot easier in hornet. But STAYING connected was easier in the tomcat. The extra power makes it easier to make fine adjustments in my opinion.
If I’m using the mouse and not using VR the difficulty ramps right up with all of them but I find the tomcat the easiest or the bunch as the frame around the front give you so many little reference points you can use to make lineup and approach easier.
But that’s just me and I’m by NO means proficient at it and fall off all the time.
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Hang in there, @Navynuke99
I find switching the HUD off makes it easier to concentrate on the refueling pod (not the basket - you should focus on the tanker and use your peripheral vision to connect).
Join up to the tanker’s left wing and then slide over and approach from slightly below to avoid the wake turbulence.
In my opinion the Hornet is the easiest to plug in, since you can see the probe right in front of you and there’s less canopy rails obscuring the view. You have to learn to anticipate the engine lag when accelerating/decelerating which takes some time.
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Yeah…sounds like an innuendo in there concerning martial relations with my overly Rubenesque ex-wife…but I probably shouldn’t go there…so I won’t. 
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Wasn’t there mention of AAR improvements last year? Like basket physics and fuel spray and stuff like that? Thread got me thinking about it and I’m pretty sure that was mentioned at one point. Haven’t heard anything lately.
To be honest, if you can fly in formation, refueling is pretty comical right now. Try refueling the F16 or A10 with the basket. It works. The harrier is actually easier to refuel on the boom because it moves to dock with you rather than hitting the basket behind your head.
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What’s weird to me is that I find the S-3 to be more challenging than the Herc. The basket shouldn’t care what it’s attached to. But my little brain is convinced that the S-3 is squirrelier. Also, I find that I snag on first try and stay snagged more consistently after a couple of glasses of vino. I think the French were onto something back when a little nip was allowed at top of descent.
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I managed a couple of thousand pounds last night in the hornet. Once I connect I always seem to go right and up for some reason. I force myself to relax and slowly move in but it sure is a skill worth learning. Guess I keep trying 
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…and there we have the first part of the problem.
Anybody got advice for “gitting gud” at this if you can’t often hop online?
That’s really weird as I find the S 3 to be the easiest of them all. The kc135 is the worst one for me. Its borderline impossible sometimes. I bet there is no actual difference in reality but our brains make work out of nothing sometimes I suppose
AI aircraft work just fine. Set up something big - KC-135, IL-76, Bear, B-52 - at a nice altitude and then try to stay on its wing. Start out with long straight legs. Eventually work it into turns and changes in altitude…later move on to smaller aircraft. I’ve got several training missions that I use a lot - I just fly form for a few hours.
There is a “trick” where you pick out a couple of points on the lead plane and work to keep them aligned - that works well.
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Tried again tonight and managed to complete refueling the hornet with only a couple of disconnects. Feeling smug now 
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As you should. 
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