Is it possible to do a midflight atmospheric refuel?

[michaelphoenix22]

Just wondering if anyone has tried this. I was thinking that I could build a refueler and have mechjeb keep it on a heading then bring a plane under it, dock refuel, then undock. Im not sure if mechjeb will continue to fly the plane though. Ive seen it continue to to a RCS docking after switching vehicles, but ive never tried engines. does it work?

[rryy]

No, it is not possible because you would need to keep both planes within 2 km of each other, and even if you do that, midair docking is incredibly difficult.

[White Rider]

Technically if you had both MechJeb and one of romfarers plugins yes its possible.

Not possible stock.

[A Fat Pokemon]

I've seen someone do it once, just slow flying planes.

[Uocjat]

one main problem i'm seeing with this is that you as far as I remember can't leave a plane and go back to the space center while you're still in the atmosphere

though there might be a way around that by dropping something like a fule tank and then switching to that and ending it's flight but I haven't tried

i'm not sure about mechjeb but i'd imagine that it wouldn't work unless your other ship/plane was within physics range (2km ?) but if you were to manage to build something that just hovers by the power of SAS/RCS then it should be able to stay there

beyond that it's just going to be pretty damn hard to get lined up right and come in slow enough that you dock rather then just smash through your refueling station

[duncan1297]

if it is possible it would be pretty awesome.

[NeoMorph]

IT'S EASY....

Seriously... you just need one mod. http://kerbalspaceprogram.com/hooligan-labs-airship-parts-and-plugin/

[Mihara]

Trivial with airships, indeed. You could even dock them.

If you are attempting to simulate a midflight refuel with airplanes while matching the real world midflight refueling to any significant degree, though, you're in for a world of hurt -- it is probably possible in theory, but you'd need at least the following:

1. Kerbal Attachment System plugin, for hoses.
   
2. MechJeb to hold the planes steady while you fiddle with the hoses, because these have to be connected by EVAed kerbals.
   
3. Lazors System mod, for good measure, to extend physics distance to the maximum, because otherwise it would not be practical to have two planes in the air at the same time -- the default physics distance is just 2.3km, that's too short.
   

That assuming that you can actually switch vessels while in atmosphere, and I'm not certain anything on this list would permit that. But maybe if both of them are flying slowly enough...

If you do pull it off, that will be a significant claim to KSP fame.

[A Fat Pokemon]

Here, I got you the video, its 3 planes actually:

[michaelphoenix22]

that is an impressive video!