Sled Driver

throughout the flight and adjusted altitude by delicately moving a thumb-wheel
control on the autopilot. The autopilot helped by controlling the ground track and
told the jet when to turn along the route. Turns were made without the pilot making
inputs on the stick.
We normally cruised in a very slight climb throughout the flight. As the jet
became lighter due to fuel consumption, altitude was increased gently to optimize
the range. As the air became thinner, less fuel was required to achieve the same
thrust. Outside air temperature had the greatest influence on fuel consumption.
Even though our forecasters were good, upper level temperatures were difficult to
predict accurately. Warmer than standard temperatures at high altitude hurt
performance by increasing fuel consumption. Colder than normal temperatures
were a blessing and helped us (make' gas en route. We could tell from cockpit
indications, if the outside air temperature was different from what had been
forecast. We used this information to seek the optimum altitude with the best
temperature.
In addition to monitoring fuel quantity, maintaining the proper Mach, and
adjusting altitude, I had several other cockpit chores: adjusting the center of gravity
(CG), and closely monitoring engine temperatures and the positions of the spikes
and the air bypass doors. The aircraft's center of gravity changed as fuel was burned.
I continually monitored and adjusted it. To maintain an optimum CG, I transferred
fuel forward or aft by operating fuel boost pumps. This not only provided a more
stable airplane, but also reduced the drag.
By reducing drag, we saved fuel. Another way we reduced drag was by insuring
the control surfaces were properly trimmed. Following the refueling, the rudders
were sometimes out of alignment because they had been trimmed to offset flying
with one burner lit. I checked rudder alignment by looking through a small periscope
located at the top of the cockpit. I pushed the periscope into the slipstream and
could see the rear of the aircraft. If I could see the rudders offset, I trimmed them
flush with the vertical tail.
Engine temperatures were important to watch. Sometimes, they wandered out
of the safe band, and I adjusted them back into the desired range with a lever in the
cockpit. Spikes and air bypass door gauges warranted a million looks per flight, as
mentioned earlier. If a spike were as little as an inch off, the inlet was operating
inefficiently costing valuable fuel, and the likelihood of an unstart increased.
At the low altitudes, the jet required a strong arm to muscle the stick around. At
high altitude, the pilot flew the airplane from the neck up. The pilot still controlled
altitude and airspeed, but control inputs could not be abrupt. Flying faster than a
speeding bullet made any control input noticeable. We could hand-fly the jet above