Mark Timothy Cain (1960 - 2008)

Born 2 Feb 1960 in Montgomery, Montgomery, Alabama, USA

Ancestors

Died 28 Jun 2008 at age 48 in Colbert, Spokane, Washington, USA

Biography

Mark Cain's obituary

Article about Pilot Mark Cain New York Times November 27, 1988 Two Big Warplanes Join in a Soaring Ballet to Refuel By RICHARD HALLORAN, SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES As the key performer in an aerial ballet, Sgt. Eric L. Craig of the Air Force lies flat on his stomach to peer through the tail window of his tanker as he prepares for an aerial refueling. Two planes the size of Boeing 707's, flying 400 miles an hour at 27,000 feet, meet and are locked by a boom through which fuel flows as they sway gently through the sky. Air Force officers say the tankers are becoming even more vital to strategic planning as American access to bases overseas, like those in Spain, Greece and the Philippines, becomes more restricted because the countries have political objections. Aerial tankers were introduced into the Air Force 30 years ago to service bombers and are now essential to the ability of the United States armed services to project long-range air power. The tankers fuel fighters, cargo planes and long-distance, high-flying reconnaissance planes. In War, a Sky Command Post On a recent day over the Midwest, an EC-135 control plane, the Looking Glass, climbed slowly to close with Sergeant Craig's tanker from behind and below. (Looking Glass would be an airborne command post for nuclear forces if command centers on the ground were destroyed in a war.) With his left hand, Sergeant Craig flipped switches to flash lights along the bottom of the tanker, signaling to the pilot of Looking Glass to come forward, or to slip right, or to slow down. With his right hand, he took a control lever and guided the 30-foot boom, with its small wings, back and down toward Looking Glass, the receiver. As Looking Glass came closer, Sergeant Craig relayed to his pilot, Capt. Mark T. Cain, a continuous report about the receiver: 50 feet . . . 40 feet . . . 30 feet. It makes them feel better up front if they know where the receiver is, the sergeant said in an aside. Then Sergeant Craig aimed the tip of the telescoped boom at an open receptacle in the shoulders of the receiver, behind the cockpit, and pressed a trigger to slide the nozzle in, with a soft click. For 17 minutes, the planes were locked together while 10,000 pounds of fuel coursed into the tanks of the EC-135. Plotting the Courses to Mesh Captain Cain, the pilot, said, My job during refueling is to provide as stable a platform as I can. He concentrated on flying the airplane while the co-pilot, Capt. Michael R. Bergstrom, handled everything else. Not until Looking Glass had peeled off did the tension subside. Although the safety record of tankers is good, accidents do happen. Air Force officers said a boom operator recently put the nozzle through the windshield of a receiver. On this flight, Capt. Rolfe P. Parsloe, the navigator of the tanker, a KC-135, plotted a course that took his plane north across that of the receiver flying west to east more than 100 miles away. Then the KC-135 turned left to fly west on a course parallel to that of the EC-135 but in the opposite direction and 10 miles north. At a point 22.5 miles from the receiver, Captain Parsloe ordered a sweeping, 180-degree left turn that brought the tanker rolling out in front of the receiver. Finally, the receiver made minor changes to line himself up with the tanker. Captain Parsloe said another pattern often called for the tanker to fly to a point just ahead of the receiver, then to turn 90 degrees sharply left or right so that the receiver came up immediately behind. #28 Tankers Used in the Raid on Libya The most extensive use of tankers came recently in the raid on Libya in 1986, after France and Spain refused to allow American planes to use their bases or to fly through their airspace. The deployment of 28 tankers allowed FB-111 fighter bombers to fly from England around Spain, through the Straits of Gibraltar and across the Mediterranean to strike Libya, and to return. Today about 60 B-52 and B-1 bombers laden with nuclear missiles and bombs are on alert at any given time. The same number of tankers are also on alert, their tanks filled and their crews bunked in ready shacks near the airfield ramps. The Strategic Air Command, which controls the bombers and tankers, has just assigned 61 B-52's to carry only conventional, high-explosive bombs and missiles rather than nuclear arms. In missions like those flown over the Persian Gulf, the bombers would need tanker support. The rest are in training, on operations or in maintenance. Altogether, the Air Force has 690 tankers, of which 327 are KC-135's in the active force and 140 in the reserves. The Air Force is fitting the four-engine KC-135's with new engines that let the planes carry 50 percent more fuel. Finally, 35 specially equipped KC-135's service reconnaissance planes like the SR-71.

Mark Timothy Cain. ^[1][2]

Born 02 Feb 1960. Montgomery, Montgomery, Alabama, USA. ^[3]

Died 28 Jun 2008. Colbert, Spokane, Washington, USA. ^[4][5]

File Format: jpg. Mark Timothy Cain.

Sources

1. ↑ Source: #S-582593536 Issue State: Washington; Issue Date: 1977
2. ↑ Source: #S-582366346 Publication Date: 07/ 1/ 2008
3. ↑ Source: #S-582593536 Issue State: Washington; Issue Date: 1977
4. ↑ Source: #S-582593536 Issue State: Washington; Issue Date: 1977
5. ↑ Source: #S-582366346 Publication Date: 07/ 1/ 2008

• Source: S-582366346 Repository: #R-1093590736 U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930 - 2015 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc
• Repository: R-1093590736 Ancestry.com
• Source: S-582593536 Repository: #R-1093590736 U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc