Dynamics and Control of Hose-Drogue Refueling Systems During Coupling

Dynamic analyses and control system design for aerial refueling hose-drogue systems during receiver probe coupling are studied. When a receiver plane approaches to couple with a refueling drogue, the hose drogue system undergoes transient motion due to the receiver forebody aerodynamic effect in addition to the tanker motion and down wash, and atmospheric turbulence. As a receiver probe comes into contact with the drogue, loss of tension in the refueling hose may cause it to exhibit erratic motion without hose-tension control. In this paper, a previously developed hose drogue dynamic model is extended to study 1) the receiver forebody aerodynamic effect on the drogue transient motion before coupling and possible active stabilization and control methods, and 2) the wave motion of the hose drogue system due to the tension change in the hose upon the receiver coupling and possible hose-tension control methods.