PASSING GAS

THE HISTORY OF IN-FLIGHT REFUELING

MAJOR VERNON B. BYRD

22 FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS OF IN-FLIGHT SAVES

Passing Gas, The history of in-flight refueling, documents the development of in-flight refueling from its inception some 75 years ago, when a wing-walker, with a five gallon container of fuel strapped on his back, descended from the wing of one aircraft to the wing of another.

Today, Giant KC-10 Extender aircraft have a capability to transfer hundreds of thousands of pounds of fuel to any aircraft equipped with either a probe or a receptacle.

The first section of the book is the actual history of in-flight refueling. The second section is a collection of true, first hand stories of aircrafts being "saved" through the actions of the tanker crews, and men who have flown the large varieties of air refueling tanker aircrafts.

The stories involve real people, pilots who flew in the Vietnam War and who owe their lives to a few truly unsung heroes who were willing to risk their lives and careers, so that their fellow airman might live.

This book is a tribute to those tanker crewmen, by the author an by those who are still alive because of their actions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vernon " BUD" Byrd is a retired Air Force Senior Navigator. He entered the Air Force in 1951 and eventually served as a crew chief and maintenance dock chief for Republic F-84G, F and North American F-86D aircraft.

In 1959 he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant. He then attended Navigator training school where he and another instructor rewrote Air Force Manual 51-40, Radar Navigation.

In 1966 he was transferred to Strategic Air Command. After two years in the field, he was transferred to Castle Air Force Base where he taught at the KC-135 Combat Crew Training School.

He retired from the Air Force in 1972 and established residence in Chico, California where he now resides with his wife , Sylvia.

To order the book PASSING GAS

Byrd Publishing Company         E-Mail: byrdpub@aol.com
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2153 Notre Dame Blvd

Chico, California 95928

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