Abstract: An operating station having an operator's seat and one or more observer's seats movable along a U-shaped track so as to be positioned either behind or on either side of the operator's seat. The track comprises four individual rails to which is mounted a set of four swivel rollers which support a base member of the observer's seat. The rails each have a substantially identical U-shaped configuration, with the center of symmetry of each U-shaped rail being offset from one another in a manner that the base member of the observer's seat is able to move along the entire U-shaped track assembly without changing its orientation with respect to the aircraft. In another configuration, the two halves of the U-shaped rail are made as mirror images of one another.

Abstract: A refueling boom operator's seat located within the lower rear portion of the aircraft fuselage, the seat positioning the operator in a moderately reclining sitting position facing rearwardly to view the operating area of the refueling boom. Two rearwardly and outwardly diverging leg well structures provide recesses to accommodate the operator's legs, and a viewing window is positioned between the operator's legs at approximately the position of the operator's knees. These components are so arranged relative to the main rear pressure bulkhead and other components of the fuselage that the operator has a direct unobstructed view of the boom's normal refueling envelope. A pair of mirrors at the upper and lower portions of the window provide an indirect view of an upper portion of an extreme envelope, into which the boom is able to move above its normal refueling area.