Logistics for Air to Air Refuelling in Civil Aviation, Step Jump in Fuel / Weight / Cost Efficiency Smaller Tankers Needed

摘要

Air to Air Refuelling (AAR) is indispensable in Military circles for 80+ years. Military aircraft take for granted, its availability on demand. The tankers essentially operate like "gas stations" in sky. Military missions need to succeed rather than be overly concerned with fuel usage. Often tankers accompany and refuel shorter range aircraft over longer missions. Now AAR is proposed with confidence for Civil Aviation. It can bestow a step change towards higher fuel/cost efficiency. The Civil tanker concepts operate over shorter radii within the overall aim of saving fuel in whole aviation system. Efficiency metrics show that long and short ranges are both inefficient. The metrics yield design sensitivities, operational concepts and performance goals for AAR-system. This yields the study cases on anticipated aircraft performance and missions. Operational issues, routing and constraints e.g. Turbulence, Air Navigation Services, environmental impact and certification issues are discussed. The AAR system (direct Point A to B), introduced for today's Inter-Continental "hub-to-hub" system would give fuel savings and CO_2 emission reductions of 15-30% (dependent on range). Additionally, 30-40% weight savings would lead Manufacturing and operators focus towards smaller aircraft using smaller airports. Further, for sustainable aviation growth, meeting future urbanisation demands, short flights are mitigated. The relief in capacity (less short flights) becomes available for long flights (aviation - only viable solution). These aspects contribute major COC and DOC reductions. The noise, emissions, wake effects are favourable and help meet ACARE / NASA goals. Some Civilian Certification / Operational rules will need revision. New tankers already respect CS25 regulations. Automatic operation is aimed at (as in US-UCAV's). To maintain transport capacity, more AAR cruisers may be needed. However, the total flying mass (metal) in the air will be lower. Smaller cruisers need smaller Tankers. We can visualise A320's & 737's being converted. Conversions of such aircraft to Freighters have already begun - Tankers, just a step further. Global Civil aviation is on resilient growth. Traditional Research towards promoting efficiency and environmental sustainability (low emissions and noise) is yielding ever-smaller returns as technology matures. We can now be proactive, bestowing a step change, enhancing the efficiencies, using AAR and introducing Point A-B flights.