Getting paid to fly

It's really comforting to look out the window when you're 21,000 feet in the air and to see an F-16 pull up beside you.

The pilot is just there, kind of like your tough little brother, while you fly over the desert together. On the other side of the plane, there's another F-16. And you feel good, even though you're only flying over Nevada.

But what these F-16s want is a drink. And they get that drink from this bad boy: the KC-135 Stratotanker.

The Utah Air National Guard invited members of the media on a refueling flight recently, and I got to go. It was exciting because the KC-135 is also known as the "Vomit Comet" because of its use in weightless training.

Its regular job is that of flying gas station. But like I said in the story I wrote for the newspaper, the pilots hate it when you call it that.

From here in the cockpit, Zac Love and Brandon Taylor can monitor how much of the 200,000 pounds of fuel they can distribute to waiting planes, which can range from the agile fighters to the heaviest cargo planes. With all four pumps running, they can pump up to 8,000 pounds a minute.

A simple 300-pound refueling takes just a few seconds. And if you think that's amazing, you should take a look at the ground below from the boom operator's window near the tail section in the belly of the plane.

Then, the F-16 pilot maneuvers his plane below you. And just like that, he's had his fill and goes back to his training flight over the Utah Test and Training Range.

And at that point, I'm no longer just comforted. I'm in awe.