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Unfamiliar word? Select a dotted-underlined term for its meaning.
Show the refuelling areas
An AARA is an air-to-air refuelling area. Open MAP → AREAS → AARA AREAS to show those areas on the map. Showing an area does not launch a tanker or order a fighter to refuel.
Launch a tanker from a base
- Open ASSETS with the default R. Find a VC10 or Tristar at the base you want to use and check the base’s fuel. For a tanker already flying, use ACTIVE OPS and the next section instead.
- Choose TRACK on the based tanker’s row. Left-click the map at the first point, then at the second point. These set the straight part of the route; the tanker turns at the ends to repeat it. You are not drawing the corners of a rectangular area.
- Read ASMA for any refusal and check ACTIVE OPS for the new flight. An accepted task can still be waiting to take off.
- Watch the tanker depart and reach the working route. Check its callsign, type and F and AF before sending aircraft to it.
- To send a fighter for fuel, follow REFUEL on the fighter that needs more fuel, then choose the tanker. Drawing a tanker route does not issue that fighter order.
Move a tanker already in the air
- Find the tanker you want to move and check its current task and fuel. Right-click its radar track and choose TRACK or ANCHOR. If the right-click menu is disabled, use AC Control to enable it. Some tanker rows in ACTIVE OPS also offer TRACK; use it only when shown.
- For TRACK, left-click two points for the new route. For ANCHOR, left-click one centre point: the game places a short east–west repeating route around it. ANCHOR does not mean the aircraft stops moving.
- Read the ASMA response. TANKER RETASKED confirms the airborne TRACK or ANCHOR change. Read the body to check which pattern was assigned. Check its movement toward the new working area.
- Check the fuel and travel distance of any aircraft relying on it. Moving the tanker changes where they can meet it; do not assume they are already receiving fuel at the new location.
Use the tanker’s AC Control tab
- Left-click the tanker’s own radar track, check its callsign in FLIGHT INFO, then choose AC Control. Find the TANKER controls.
- Choose TRACK for two map points or ANCHOR for one centre point. These start the same pattern choices described above; they do not require enabling the right-click menu.
- Read TANKER RETASKED in ASMA, match the callsign and follow the tanker’s movement. A new route mark is not the aircraft arriving there.
Change the route of a tanker waiting to take off
| What the tanker is doing | What a new TRACK order means |
|---|---|
| Waiting at the base | Find that already-tasked tanker by its callsign in ACTIVE OPS. Use TRACK on that same row when shown, then choose both new points. The new route replaces its earlier route; the waiting period continues. Do not launch another tanker from the based-aircraft list just to move this one. |
| Rolling along the runway | It finishes taking off before flying toward the new route. A new TRACK or ANCHOR order can replace an RTB or REFUEL order that was waiting for take-off to finish. Check the latest order before relying on its destination. |
| Already flying | It turns toward the new route from its current position. Read TANKER RETASKED in ASMA, then watch the aircraft itself; the new line is not proof it has arrived. |
| Returning because of a fuel emergency | TANKER RETASK DENIED means the new pattern was refused. Check the tanker’s fuel and return status rather than repeatedly trying to move it. |
An assigned tanker can be listed in ACTIVE OPS before it is airborne. Match the callsign, type and status. Cancel an unfinished map choice with Escape before the final click. Once the new task is accepted, Escape does not restore the old order.
What do the line and anchor marker tell me?
They show the assigned working pattern. They do not show that an aircraft has connected to the tanker, that fuel is transferring, or that a refuelling operation has finished. Confirm transfer by watching the fuel of the aircraft that needs it. See the fighter procedure or the AWACS/Nimrod procedure.
Read the route label separately from the aircraft
| Example on the pattern | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| ALPHA | The name of the assigned pattern. The game chooses the name; use the aircraft’s own callsign to find it in ACTIVE OPS. |
| 150–170 | The assigned flight-level range, FL150 to FL170. It is not a live height report or a fuel value. |
| The white line or anchor marker | The assigned place and pattern. Find the tanker’s separate radar contact to see where the aircraft actually is. |
For a new launch, the game chooses an initial working height within the assigned range. After a TRACK or ANCHOR change, read TANKER RETASKED in ASMA, then select the same tanker and open Flight Info. Read ALT for its displayed height and watch its movement on the scope. Aircraft Data gives type specifications such as Service Ceiling; that figure is not the tanker’s present height. The new pattern label alone does not confirm arrival or a height change.
Cancel a map choice without recalling the tanker
| Stage of the choice | How to stop it |
|---|---|
| Tanker at base: TRACK, before the first point | Use CANCEL TASK at the top of ASSETS. You are cancelling the location choice, not ordering a flight home. |
| Tanker at base: TRACK, after the first point | Press Escape to remove the temporary line before choosing the second point. After the first click, use this key even if CANCEL TASK is no longer shown. |
| Tanker already flying: TRACK, before the second click | Use CANCEL TASK in the ASSETS header while the two-point choice is unfinished, or move the pointer over clear map space and press Escape before the second click. Cancelling this unfinished choice does not assign the new route. |
| Tanker already flying: ANCHOR, before the centre click | Before the centre click, use CANCEL TASK in the ASSETS header, or move the pointer over clear map space and press Escape. The single centre click would finish the choice. |
| The new pattern has already been assigned | Escape does not undo an accepted task. Read ASMA and check the tanker. Give another deliberate TRACK or ANCHOR order to change the pattern, or RTB to bring it home. |
CANCEL on the right-click menu only closes that menu. After cancelling a map choice, check the tanker’s task and movement before starting again. If Escape appears to do nothing, move the pointer away from panels and try once more; the map choice may ignore the key while the pointer is over a panel.
Understand a refused or unfinished order
| What you see | What to check |
|---|---|
| NO TANKERS | The chosen type must be available at the selected base. Another flight or pending order may already be using it. |
| NO FUEL | Check the named base’s actual fuel store. The launch needs the type’s game fuel charge, not merely a fuel total above zero. See VC10 and Tristar launch amounts. |
| TANKER RETASK DENIED | The tanker cannot accept a new pattern during emergency fuel recovery. Read the message and check its fuel and return status. Repeating TRACK will not remove the refusal. |
| A preview line, but no completed task | TRACK needs both map points. Click the map outside panels and check that you have completed the second point. Read the response and ACTIVE OPS before assuming the task was accepted. |
| Order accepted, tanker still at base | Check the departure status and whether the simulation is paused. A task assignment is not an immediate arrival in the working area. |
Fuel and the next flight
Read F for the tanker’s own flight fuel and AF for fuel it can give. A useful position with little AF does not provide a lasting refuelling service. Plan a replacement or bring it home, then use the arrival-base fuel checks before assigning another flight.
Try a simple route
Choose two distinct points you can recognise. Follow the tanker from departure to the route, then check ACTIVE OPS and F/AF. When you move the route, watch it travel to the new area. If the task fails, retain the save, callsign, base and last order for a problem report.
Choose the pattern before clicking the map
| Your choice | What to click and expect |
|---|---|
| TRACK: choose the direction yourself | Click one end of the straight route, then its other end. A temporary line follows the pointer after the first click. The second click finishes the choice; the tanker will fly a repeating route with turns at the ends. |
| ANCHOR: choose a centre | Click one centre point. The game places a preset east–west repeating route around it. There is no second point to choose its direction. |
| An aircraft symbol or a route marker? | For a tanker already flying, start from that tanker’s own radar track. The white route line, pattern name and anchor marker describe its assigned job; they are not the tanker itself. Use ACTIVE OPS to check its callsign. |
Choose clearly separated points for TRACK. Think about where fighters needing fuel will have to fly, and check the tanker’s own F and AF. A route you can draw is not a promise that every aircraft has enough fuel to reach it.
If the map choice is not doing what you expect
| What happens | Your next check |
|---|---|
| TANKER TRACK asks me to select a track to follow | For the TRACK pattern choice, draw the two map points described above. That prompt does not mean selecting another aircraft to follow. Read TANKER RETASKED in ASMA and check the route after the second click. |
| TRACK shows a moving preview line | You have chosen the first point, not finished the order. Click the second point in clear map space, or cancel as described above. |
| A map click seems ignored | Move the pointer away from ASMA, menus and panel headers. Check which selection prompt is active before clicking again; do not start another task to test the first one. |
| The new route is visible but the tanker is elsewhere | Find the same callsign in ACTIVE OPS. Read the ASMA response and watch the aircraft’s position over time. A marker shows the assignment; it does not move the aircraft there instantly. |
| The route moved but a fighter still needs fuel | Check that fighter’s own fuel and current order. TRACK and ANCHOR task the tanker. Use the separate fighter REFUEL procedure when needed. |
If the order still behaves wrongly, keep the save and include the tanker’s callsign, type, original task, whether it was on the ground, the first/second click sequence and the ASMA response in your problem report.
What if I change the route while this tanker is taking fuel?
If this tanker is itself taking fuel from another tanker, a new TRACK or ANCHOR order stops that attempt. To let it finish taking fuel, leave its order alone and watch its own F value. Follow the tanker’s own refuelling procedure before changing its task.
Will a new route order leave the tanker returning home?
Do not assume that RTB stays in force after another accepted TRACK or ANCHOR order. An ordinary return can be replaced by the new route task. If take-off is already under way, the latest accepted order decides what it does after take-off. Emergency fuel recovery is different: the route change can be refused.
If you want the tanker to land, leave its return order alone and check its destination and fuel. If you changed it by mistake, select that same aircraft and deliberately give RTB again, then follow its return. Cancelling a map choice and ordering an aircraft home are different actions.