'Green Spot', watercolour, 74 x 52 cm.
A Nimrod MR2 tanks from a VC10 K3 near the coast of northern Norway. The Nimrod is in the pre-contact position where the pilot will aim to stabilise and await the green light on the VC10 which will allow him or her to make contact. The relative speed needed to be just right. A four-second movement of the throttles forward by an inch would give an small overtake which, once the basket was captured, would then (by momentum) push the hose into the tanker by about 15 feet, which would then cause fuel to flow from the tanker. This position, where the pilot was sitting almost underneath the VC10's huge tailplane, would need to be held for around half an hour to take on a full fuel load. It was hard work, and you'd feel drained as you broke contact - knowing you had another 10 hours ahead of you! I remember this well, as one of the air-to-air refuelling pilots on the Nimrod. Good times...
The original painting was sold by commission.