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Method for managing in-flight refuelling of a fleet of aircraft

  • US 20040182966A1
  • Filed: 12/03/2003
  • Published: 09/23/2004
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2001
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method of managing the in-flight refuelling of a squadron (1) of n aircraft A1, . . . , An from the same refuelling hose of a tanker (2), making it possible to generate a refuelling sequence on the basis of taking into account a refuelling rendezvous point P, the number n of aircraft in the squadron (1), the amounts of fuel Q1, . . . , Qn demanded by the aircraft A1, . . . , An of the squadron (1) and the maximum distances L1, . . . , Ln that can be covered by each aircraft in the squadron (1) in waiting for the start of refuelling, these maximum distances L1, . . . , Ln corresponding to the distances separating the refuelling rendezvous point P, over the route followed by the tanker (2), from the limiting points that can be reached by the various aircraft in the squadron (1) without refuelling and without them drawing on their fuel reserves, said method being characterized in that it comprises the following steps:

  • of initially taking an arbitrary refuelling sequence defined by the queuing of the aircraft in the squadron (1) in an arbitrary order A1, . . . , An and a single pass by each aircraft in the squadron (1) to the refuelling hose;

    of testing the viability of the refuelling sequence adopted, consisting in expressing, as distances D1, . . . , Dn to be flown by the tanker (2), the times needed to deliver to the aircraft in the squadron (1) the planned amounts of fuel during their passes to the refuelling hose and in verifying, by going down the queue, that each aircraft other than the one at the front of the queue A2, . . . , An will start its refuelling within the deadlines, that is to say before the tanker (2) has flown a distance greater than the maximum distance L2, . . . , Ln that can be covered by the aircraft in question;

    when there is no finding that an aircraft will start its refuelling beyond the deadline, of accepting the viability of the refuelling sequence tested and of adopting it;

    when there is a finding that an aircraft will start its refuelling beyond the deadline, of modifying the refuelling sequence tested in order to shorten the waiting time by this aircraft and of trying to fuel it within the deadlines, the modification in the sequence consisting in dividing, into two passes, the refuelling operation or operations of one or more aircraft that precede the aircraft in question in the queue, a first shortened pass to the refuelling hose allowing an aircraft to receive a minimum amount of fuel, increasing its endurance sufficiently for it to be able to move to the end of the queue and to wait for a second pass to the refuelling hose for the remainder of the fuel without drawing on its fuel reserve, the one or more aircraft whose refuelling is divided into two being chosen so as to minimize the number of passes to the refuelling hose, the choice firstly depending on the aircraft, if there is one, that is placed ahead in the queue and the dividing of the refuelling of which into two passes to the refuelling hose makes it possible to approach as best as possible, by an upper value, the desired time saving, and then on the two aircraft, if they exist, placed ahead in the queue, the divisions of the refuelling of which make it possible to approach as best as possible, by an upper value, the desired time saving, and so on, the absence of a solution in the choice of the aircraft for divided refuelling resulting in a finding that it is impossible to refuel the entire squadron, whereas the presence of a solution leads to a modified refuelling sequence proposal; and

    of taking any modified refuelling sequence proposal and testing its viability by restarting at the second step of the method.

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