Patent ID: 11866191
Assignee: AIRBUS DEFENCE AND SPACE SAS
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 11:
12. A hose and drogue air to air refueling system comprising:
a hose configured to be mounted to a tanker aircraft and convey fuel from the tanker aircraft to a receiver aircraft;
a drogue coupling attached to a distal end of the hose, wherein the drogue coupling is configured to connect to a receiver probe of the receiver aircraft;
a hose-end control unit at the distal end of the hose wherein the hose-end control unit comprises:
a frame assembly having a longitudinal axis which extends through the drogue coupling, wherein the frame assembly includes a fixed frame mechanically connecting the hose-end control unit to the hose and proximate to the distal end of the hose, and a rotary frame rotationally connected to the fixed frame, wherein the rotary frame is rotatable relative to the fixed frame, and
at least three fins each mounted to the rotary frame and extending outward from the rotary frame, wherein each of the at least three fins is configured to by dynamically rotated by a respective deflection angle; and
an inertial measurement unit configured to measure an acceleration of at least one of the hose-end and the drogue coupling;

wherein the air to air active refueling system further including:
a first sensor configured to sense a relative position between the first sensor and the receiver probe of the receiver aircraft; and
a processing unit configured to:
receive acceleration measurements from the inertial measurement unit,
receive the relative position sensed by the first sensor,
determine an aerodynamic load on the at least one of the receiver probe and the drogue coupling;
determine one or more desired deflection angles for rotation of one or more of the at least three fins to counteract the determined aerodynamic load; and

actuate the one or more of the at least three fins to rotate the one or more desired deflection angles.