{"id":25135987,"date":"2026-09-27T21:17:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T19:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/?p=25135987"},"modified":"2026-09-27T21:17:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T19:17:54","slug":"kc-135-towed-f-111-vietnam-locked-toggles-hickman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/kc-135-towed-f-111-vietnam-locked-toggles-hickman\/","title":{"rendered":"The KC-135 That Towed a Crippled F-111 Out of North Vietnam"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>&ldquo;Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! We&rsquo;ve been struck by a missile.&rdquo;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The call came over the radio late in the Vietnam War, as a KC-135 Stratotanker crew was finishing a refuelling mission over Southeast Asia and getting ready to turn for home. On the other end was an <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-111-aardvark\/\">F-111<\/a> with two men aboard, hit by a missile and losing fuel fast.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>What the tanker crew did next is one of the stranger rescues of the air war: they plugged the boom into the crippled jet, locked it there, and dragged it back to Thailand while pumping fuel into it the whole way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The story is making the rounds again through a post by @theaviationcircle. It comes from an interview the US Air Force recorded with the tanker&rsquo;s navigator, retired Major Jim Hickman, and the core of it is well sourced. A few details have drifted in the retelling.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"margin:28px auto;max-width:400px\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"skip-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DdopJmYiiDs\/embed\" width=\"400\" height=\"600\" style=\"border:0;max-width:100%\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin-top:6px\">The post that prompted this article.<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;border-left:4px solid #1a1a1a;padding:18px 22px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600\">Quick Facts<\/p><ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px\"><li><strong>Tanker:<\/strong> Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, Strategic Air Command, operating from Thailand<\/li><li><strong>Navigator:<\/strong> Jim Hickman, later retired as a major<\/li><li><strong>Receiver:<\/strong> F-111 with a crew of two, hit by a missile and leaking fuel<\/li><li><strong>Technique:<\/strong> Boom connected with the receiver&rsquo;s toggles locked, so the tanker could hold the fighter and keep refuelling it<\/li><li><strong>Outcome:<\/strong> F-111 disconnected at about 10,000 feet near its base in Thailand and landed safely<\/li><li><strong>When:<\/strong> Late in the war; Hickman remembered it as the next-to-last refuelling mission of the Vietnam War<\/li><li><strong>Primary source:<\/strong> US Air Force interview, 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs, October 2015<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:28px 0\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/f-111-kc-135-boom-refueling-contact.jpg\" alt=\"An F-111 in contact with a KC-135 Stratotanker refuelling boom, seen from the boom operator position\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block\" \/><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin-top:8px\">An F-111 on the boom of a KC-135, seen from the boom operator&rsquo;s window. This is a 1980 photo over the North Sea, not the Vietnam incident, of which no photographs are known. Photo: US Department of Defense (public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s Go Get Him&rdquo;<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Hickman told the 22nd Air Refueling Wing&rsquo;s public affairs office in 2015 that the crew exchanged glances and weighed their options when the Mayday came in. He made the call: &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s go get him.&rdquo; The tanker confirmed the fighter&rsquo;s position over the radio and headed north until the two aircraft had each other in sight.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>&ldquo;He pulled in behind us, we got the boom into the receptacle and started transferring fuel,&rdquo; Hickman said. Then the boom operator saw fuel pouring back out of the F-111. The damage was worse than anyone had realised, and the fighter could not keep the fuel it was being given.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:22px 26px;margin:30px 0\"><p style=\"font-size:19px;line-height:1.6;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 12px\">&ldquo;We have a thing that we do called locking the toggles. When you lock the toggles on a receiver you can actually tow him. So we did that, and kept giving him fuel.&rdquo;<\/p><p style=\"margin:0;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Retired Maj. Jim Hickman<\/strong>, KC-135 navigator, US Air Force interview, 2015<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What &ldquo;Locking the Toggles&rdquo; Means<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>On a KC-135, the boom operator flies the telescoping boom into a receptacle on top of the receiving aircraft, where latching toggles grip the nozzle. In normal refuelling that connection is designed to break cleanly: if the receiver drifts out of position, the boom disconnects rather than risk damage to either aircraft.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Locking the toggles keeps the nozzle latched in the receptacle, so the connection holds even as the stricken jet struggles to stay in position. With the two aircraft joined, the tanker takes some of the load and the fuel keeps flowing continuously, replacing what leaks out faster than the fighter could otherwise hold it. Crews called it towing. It is not a routine procedure, and it depends on a steady receiver pilot and a skilled boom operator.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:28px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zvMm41FuMlI\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Out of North Vietnam<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Locked together, the two aircraft flew out of North Vietnam and back toward Thailand, the tanker feeding the fighter all the way. Near the F-111&rsquo;s base the boom operator unlocked the toggles and the fighter dropped off the boom. In a separate interview with his hometown paper, the Derby Informer in Kansas, Hickman said the pilot disconnected at 10,000 feet: &ldquo;we watched him land with barely enough fuel, but he got on the ground safely.&rdquo;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:22px 26px;margin:30px 0\"><p style=\"font-size:19px;line-height:1.6;font-style:italic;margin:0 0 12px\">&ldquo;That was probably one of the greatest experiences in all my time in the Strategic Air Command. There were two crew members on there. If they would have bailed out they&rsquo;d have been captured and thrown in prison.&rdquo;<\/p><p style=\"margin:0;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Retired Maj. Jim Hickman<\/strong>, US Air Force interview, 2015<\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:28px 0\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/f-111a-474th-tfw-crew-takhli-1972.jpg\" alt=\"An F-111A crew of the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing standing in front of their bombed-up aircraft at Takhli, Thailand, in 1972\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block\" \/><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin-top:8px\">An F-111A crew of the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing with their loaded aircraft at Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, 1972. Every F-111 carried two crew members, side by side. Photo: US Air Force (public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What the Retelling Gets Wrong<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The core of the story comes straight from the Air Force interview, and the quotes in the post are accurate. Three details need care.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Position in the formation.<\/strong> The post says Hickman&rsquo;s KC-135 was number one in a ten-tanker flight. In the Derby Informer interview, Hickman described his tanker as the last in a ten-plane refuelling flight. The Air Force article does not say either way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>The type.<\/strong> The Derby Informer account calls the fighter an FB-111. That cannot be right: the FB-111A was Strategic Air Command&rsquo;s nuclear bomber and never deployed to Southeast Asia. The F-111s that flew over Vietnam were F-111As, and in the last phase of the war they operated from Takhli in Thailand with the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing, which returned to the theatre in September 1972. The Air Force&rsquo;s own article correctly calls it an F-111 Aardvark.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p><strong>When.<\/strong> Hickman remembered it as the next-to-last refuelling mission of the Vietnam War, which places it late in the conflict, after the F-111A&rsquo;s return in 1972. We have not been able to identify the individual F-111 or its crew.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:28px 0\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/f-111a-474th-tfw-takhli-flight-line-1972.jpg\" alt=\"Two F-111As of the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing taxiing on the flight line at Takhli, with F-4 Phantoms in the background\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;display:block\" \/><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin-top:8px\">Two F-111As of the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing taxi in at Takhli, Thailand, in September 1972, when the Aardvark returned to the war. Photo: Ken Hackman, US Air Force (public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Not the Only Save<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Hickman&rsquo;s crew belonged to a long tradition. KC-135s began refuelling combat aircraft over Southeast Asia on 9 June 1964, and over the next nine years, according to Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine, they flew 194,687 sorties and made 813,878 refuellings. No KC-135 was lost to enemy action. The phrase &ldquo;Thanks, that&rsquo;s a save&rdquo; was heard more than 500 times over the radio during the war.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The most famous save came on 31 May 1967, when Major John Casteel&rsquo;s KC-135 crew refuelled six aircraft in succession, including two Navy KA-3 tankers that were themselves passing fuel to Navy F-8 Crusaders, at one point creating a three-level refuelling chain. Casteel&rsquo;s crew received the Mackay Trophy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:28px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hWJ5YEBSvjY\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>In the talk above, Jack Froelich describes USAF KC-135 tanker operations in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>Did a KC-135 really tow an F-111 in Vietnam?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes, according to retired Maj. Jim Hickman, the navigator of a KC-135 Stratotanker, in a 2015 US Air Force interview. After an F-111 was hit by a missile and began losing fuel, his crew connected the refuelling boom, locked the toggles so the connection could not slip, and brought the fighter back toward Thailand while continuously refuelling it. The F-111 landed safely.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What does locking the toggles mean in air refuelling?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">On the KC-135, latching toggles in the receiver&rsquo;s receptacle grip the boom nozzle. Normally the connection breaks cleanly if the receiver drifts out of position. Locking the toggles keeps the nozzle latched, so a damaged aircraft can stay connected and keep receiving fuel. Tanker crews described this as towing.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Was it an F-111 or an FB-111 that the tanker towed?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">It was an F-111, almost certainly an F-111A. One newspaper account calls it an FB-111, but the FB-111A was Strategic Air Command&rsquo;s nuclear bomber and never deployed to Southeast Asia. The F-111As that flew over Vietnam late in the war operated from Takhli in Thailand with the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When did the KC-135 tow of the F-111 happen?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The exact date is not recorded in the public accounts. Jim Hickman remembered it as the next-to-last refuelling mission of the Vietnam War, which places it late in the conflict, after F-111As returned to Southeast Asia in September 1972.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Were any KC-135 tankers lost in the Vietnam War?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">No KC-135 was lost to enemy action in the Vietnam War, according to Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine. From June 1964 KC-135s flew 194,687 sorties and made 813,878 refuellings in Southeast Asia, and crews reported more than 500 saves of fuel-starved or damaged aircraft.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What was the most famous KC-135 save of the Vietnam War?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">On 31 May 1967 a KC-135 commanded by Maj. John Casteel refuelled six fuel-critical aircraft in succession, including Navy KA-3 tankers that were passing fuel to Navy F-8 Crusaders at the same time. The crew received the Mackay Trophy for the mission.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did a KC-135 really tow an F-111 in Vietnam?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes, according to retired Maj. Jim Hickman, the navigator of a KC-135 Stratotanker, in a 2015 US Air Force interview. After an F-111 was hit by a missile and began losing fuel, his crew connected the refuelling boom, locked the toggles so the connection could not slip, and brought the fighter back toward Thailand while continuously refuelling it. The F-111 landed safely.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What does locking the toggles mean in air refuelling?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"On the KC-135, latching toggles in the receiver\u2019s receptacle grip the boom nozzle. Normally the connection breaks cleanly if the receiver drifts out of position. Locking the toggles keeps the nozzle latched, so a damaged aircraft can stay connected and keep receiving fuel. Tanker crews described this as towing.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Was it an F-111 or an FB-111 that the tanker towed?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"It was an F-111, almost certainly an F-111A. One newspaper account calls it an FB-111, but the FB-111A was Strategic Air Command\u2019s nuclear bomber and never deployed to Southeast Asia. The F-111As that flew over Vietnam late in the war operated from Takhli in Thailand with the 474th Tactical Fighter Wing.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When did the KC-135 tow of the F-111 happen?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The exact date is not recorded in the public accounts. Jim Hickman remembered it as the next-to-last refuelling mission of the Vietnam War, which places it late in the conflict, after F-111As returned to Southeast Asia in September 1972.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Were any KC-135 tankers lost in the Vietnam War?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"No KC-135 was lost to enemy action in the Vietnam War, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. From June 1964 KC-135s flew 194,687 sorties and made 813,878 refuellings in Southeast Asia, and crews reported more than 500 saves of fuel-starved or damaged aircraft.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the most famous KC-135 save of the Vietnam War?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"On 31 May 1967 a KC-135 commanded by Maj. John Casteel refuelled six fuel-critical aircraft in succession, including Navy KA-3 tankers that were passing fuel to Navy F-8 Crusaders at the same time. The crew received the Mackay Trophy for the mission.\"}}]}<\/script><p style=\"font-size:14px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin-top:28px\">Sources: US Air Force, 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs, &ldquo;60 Years in the Air: The KC-135 during the Vietnam War&rdquo; (A1C Tara Fadenrecht, 28 October 2015); Derby Informer, &ldquo;Derby&rsquo;s Hickman recounts highlights of Air Force career&rdquo;; Air &amp; Space Forces Magazine, &ldquo;The Young Tigers and Their Friends&rdquo;; US Air Force and US Department of Defense photo archives; Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/joker-bingo-fuel-brevity-codes-fighter-pilots-explained\/\">Joker and Bingo: How Fighter Pilots Talk About Fuel<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/el-dorado-canyon-1986-libya-raid-f-111\/\">El Dorado Canyon: The 18-Hour Raid on Tripoli<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/mayday-pan-pan-squawk-7700-pilot-radio-phraseology\/\">Mayday, Pan-Pan and Squawk 7700: What Pilots Say on the Radio<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hit by a missile and leaking fuel, an F-111 called Mayday. A KC-135 crew locked it onto the boom and dragged it back to Thailand, refuelling it all the way.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":25135148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25135987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The KC-135 That Towed a Crippled F-111 Out of North Vietnam | Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How a KC-135 towed an F-111 out of North Vietnam: a missile-damaged Aardvark, a locked refuelling boom and a tanker crew that refuelled it all the way to Thailand.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/kc-135-towed-f-111-vietnam-locked-toggles-hickman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"it_IT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The KC-135 That Towed a Crippled F-111 Out of North Vietnam | Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How a KC-135 towed an F-111 out of North Vietnam: a missile-damaged Aardvark, a locked refuelling boom and a tanker crew that refuelled it all the way to Thailand.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/it\/kc-135-towed-f-111-vietnam-locked-toggles-hickman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-27T19:17:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/09\/f-111-kc-135-boom-refueling-contact.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1311\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Connor Kerr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Connor Kerr\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/kc-135-towed-f-111-vietnam-locked-toggles-hickman\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/kc-135-towed-f-111-vietnam-locked-toggles-hickman\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Connor Kerr\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bc7f2d09b1d7111c45fdb1335b8f2cf9\"},\"headline\":\"The KC-135 That Towed a Crippled F-111 Out of North Vietnam\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-27T19:17:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/kc-135-towed-f-111-vietnam-locked-toggles-hickman\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1588,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/it\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/kc-135-towed-f-111-vietnam-locked-toggles-hickman\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/afterburner\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2026\\\/09\\\/f-111-kc-135-boom-refueling-contact.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"History &amp; 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