A hose amp; drogue in-flight refueling method and system with an improved control of the hose amp; drogue motion

摘要

The invention provides a hose&drogue in-flight refueling method and system with a comprehensive control of the motion of the hose&drogue device (17). The method comprises the following steps: a) measuring continuously the tension R at the end of the hose (19); b) using the measures of the tension R at the end of the hose (19) to control the torque To applied to the drum device (35) such that the tension R at the end of the hose (19) reaches target values in each phase of the refueling operation. The system comprises a sensing unit (37) capable of measuring continuously the tension R at the end of the hose (19) and a control unit (41) operatively communicated through a communication link (39) with the sensing unit (37) to control the torque To applied to the drum device (35).