In mid-February, a U.S. Air Force Boeing KC-46A out of North Carolina linked up with two F-35As to fuel the fighters on the long flight from the F-35As' base in Guam to Singapore, where the new U.S. Air Force aircraft would be on public display at one of the world's major air shows. The flight marked the first "coronet" mission for the new tanker from the 916th Air Refueling Wing out of Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina, a term for a sortie that involves flying with receiver aircraft as they deploy to a location outside the U.S. The 77th Air Refueling Sqdn. (ARS), an Air Force Reserve squadron, one of the newest Pegasus units in the service, is standing up its operations as it awaits additional aircraft. The unit's pilots and boom operators are figuring out how to fly the new refueler whose reputation has been shaped by problems in its development.
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