Patent ID: 8439311

Claim:
An aerial refueling boom, comprising: a refueling boom assembly, the refueling boom assembly comprising: a main boom section; and a hollow telescoping boom section adapted to be moved between a retracted position within the main boom section and an extended position extending from the main boom section for in-flight refueling of an aircraft; a pivot assembly for attaching the aerial refueling boom to a tanker aircraft, wherein the pivot assembly comprises: an aircraft attachment plate to attach the pivot assembly to the tanker aircraft; a refueling boom attachment plate at a forward end of the refueling boom assembly; and a plurality of actuators pivotably coupling the aircraft attachment plate to the refueling boom attachment plate, wherein each actuator includes a first end pivotably attached to the aircraft attachment plate and a second end pivotably attached directly to the refueling boom attachment plate at the forward end of the refueling boom assembly to pivotably attach the refueling boom assembly to the pivot assembly, and each actuator being independently controllable to vary a length of each actuator to provide multiple degrees of freedom of motion of the aerial refueling boom.