Patent ID: 8590840

Claim:
An aerial refueling system, comprising: a first conduit portion moveably coupled to a second conduit portion and moveable relative to the second conduit portion along a longitudinal axis; and a force absorbing assembly operatively coupled to the first and second conduit portions and having: a first absorber portion for absorbing loads resulting from incidental contact during refueling, the first absorber portion configured to compress when subjected to a compression force having a longitudinal component at least approximately aligned with the longitudinal axis, the longitudinal component tending to urge the first conduit portion toward the second conduit portion and causing absorption of at least a portion of the longitudinal component by the first absorber portion until the longitudinal component reaches a first force limit; and a second absorber portion for absorbing substantially greater loads during refueling, the second absorber portion operatively engaged with the first absorber portion and configured to compress when the longitudinal component exceeds the first force limit.