The cover plates are removed generally when the aircraft is going to be
refuelling from air force tankers on a regular basis. The short adaptor
hose which trails from the boom when the likes of KC-135's are modified to
refuel probe equipped aircraft causes the basket to whip around a lot and
was a frequent cause of Tomcats losing the cover on engaging or
disengaging. Easiest solution was to remove the cover. The problem doesn't
present itself with buddy refuelling from S-3s or cross force ops with RAF
VC-10s or Tristars because the longer hose makes the basket more stable.

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Regards
Drewe
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity