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Michigan Air National Guard sending aerial refueling flyovers to these 8 locations Tuesday

By Jack Nissen
Published  June 26, 2023 2:06pm EDT
Military
FOX 2 Detroit
article

A KC-135 Stratotanker shows its refueling connector at the Chicago Air and Water Show 2022 in Chicago, the United States, on Aug. 20, 2022. The annual Chicago Air and Water Show was held here on Saturday. (Photo by Joel Lerner/Xinhua via Getty Images

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(FOX 2) - Training exercises conducted by the Michigan Air National Guard will put on a spectacle for residents in several areas of the state Tuesday when they send military planes on an aerial refueling mission.

Residents from Port Huron and Sleeping Bear Dunes, to Lansing and the Mackinac Bridge will be treated to the advanced technique, which involves one jet refueling another jet while still in the sky.

The maneuver keeps jets from landing and refueling on the ground before taking off, enabling them to stay in the skies longer. Flyovers are scheduled to start at 10:20 a.m. and go until 12:30 p.m. The exercise over nine Michigan communities will commemorate 100 years of aerial refueling.

The flyovers will include KC-135 Stratotankers flying in formation with A-10 Thunderbolts. They'll be over the following locations:

  • Blue Water Bridge, Port Huron, approximately at 10:20 a.m.
  • Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center and downtown Alpena, approximately at 10:40 a.m.
  • Mackinac Bridge and Mackinaw City, approximately at 10:50 a.m.
  • Sleeping Bear Dunes area near Maple City, approximately at 11:15 a.m.
  • Downtown Grand Rapids, approximately at 11:45 a.m.
  • Battle Creek Air National Guard Base and Battle Creek, approximately at 11:55 a.m.
  • The Michigan State Capitol and downtown Lansing, approximately at 12:05 p.m.
  • The Detroit River, approximately at 12:30 p.m.
  • Selfridge Air National Guard Base, approximately at 12:35 p.m.

Aerial refueling happens by having a Stratotanker jet deploying a tube that can send fuel from its bay into another jet flying just below it.

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The flying tankers also carry cargo, passengers, and can do aeromedical evacuations. 

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