Three F-35As from Luke Air Force Base’s 51st Fighter Wing took off from Langley Air Force Base in Virginia at about 8:00 a.m., meeting with KC-10 and KC-135 tankers over the Atlantic Ocean to be refueled. The planes flew over Greenland, south of Iceland and the west coast of Scotland into England. A fourth spare F-35 returned to the US midway.
Each of the three remaining jets was refueled seven times during the almost eight-hour-long flight, refilling its tank via the KC-135 three times and via the KC-10 four times, which will likely become the standard in order to ensure jets always have enough gas to land even if the plane malfunctions, Andreotta said.
Полетело, на самом деле, четыре, но один, названный "запасным", вдуг с пол-дороги вернулся, а оставшиеся три заправились каждый по семь раз, по три раза от KC-135 и по четыре от KC-10, в сумме 21 раз...