Aerial refueling system with telescoping refueling probe

摘要

A refueling tank (16) has a telescopic refueling probe formed by a plurality of telescoping tubes (27,18,30) which are actuable for extension and retraction from an existing pylon mounted jettisonable external fuel tank (16) on the wing (17) of an aircraft. The telescopic drive action is achieved by a drive mechanism including a motor (14) and a jack screw mechanism which operates to extend and retract the telescoping tubes (27,18,30) slidably mounted, one on the other. The probe when fully retracted is completely enclosed within the associated fuel tank assembly (16) resulting in no additional drag or lift on the aircraft and keeping the probe concealed.