What is the history of air tankers?

The world's first air tanker was born in the United States in 1923. On August 27, 1923, over San Diego Bay, California, USA, two planes were flying in formation, and a hose more than 10 meters long hung down from the plane flying above the front. During the total 37-hour flight, the two aircraft filled each other with a total of 678 gallons of gasoline and lubricants.

It was the first aerial refueling test in the history of aviation, and the first aerial refueling aircraft was codenamed DH 4MAt this time, the refueling process is all operated by manpower, and the refueling machine is higher than the refueling machine, and the refueling depends on the height difference. This type of refueling is difficult to apply in practice.

Air tankers refuel aircraft in flight and *** refueling aircraft. Most of them are converted from large transport aircraft or strategic bombers. Its function can increase the range, extend the endurance, and increase the payload of the oil-receiving aircraft, so as to enhance the combat capability of the aviation unit.

Most of the refueling equipment of air tankers is installed in the tail of the fuselage, and a few are installed in the pods under the wings, and the pilot or refueling air tankers are specially used to refuel other aircraft in flight. Tankers are mostly converted from large transport aircraft and strategic bombers. Air tankers can increase the range, extend the endurance, and increase the payload of the tankers, so as to improve the combat capability of the aviation unit.

One day in 1921, the adventurous and imaginative American Willie Maye successfully completed the first in-flight refueling by strapping a canister containing 5 gallons of aviation gasoline to his back, climbing from the wing of a Lincoln-type aircraft to the wing of another flying JN 24 Jenny airplane, and moving to its engine, pouring aviation gasoline from the tank into the engine fuel tank. Since then, the development of aerial refueling technology has begun.

In 1923, a single-engine DH 4B aircraft of the U.S. Army, which was operated by another aircraft of the same type in flight, was manually operated and refueled twice in a hose artesian manner, thus beginning in-flight refueling in the true sense of the word. After more than 70 years of research and practice, the air refueling technology has become increasingly mature and perfect, and the application range has become more and more extensive. Air tankers have evolved from piston aircraft to turboprops.

As early as the advent of the first fixed-wing aircraft, some people proposed the way of in-flight refueling to extend the aircraft's stay time in the air, or reduce the aircraft's fuel load to facilitate take-off. The first aerial refueling appeared in the 20s of the twentieth century, the way is to install a 15-meter-long hose on the tanker, the head of the hose has a valve that can be quickly opened and closed, during the air refueling, the tanker puts down the hose and slowly sweeps the oil receiver from the back and above, when the person on the tanker grabs the hose, it gestures to indicate the successful connection, and then inserts the hose into the fuel tank, opens the valve and starts refueling. However, for a long period of more than 20 years since the first air refueling appeared, the new technology of air refueling was not well received and "shelved", and it was not until the end of World War II that jet fixed-wing aircraft developed rapidly, and the air refueling technology was "reborn".

The development of air refueling technology is no longer the early manual operation, the current development is more mature and widely used air refueling system is mainly two, one is the hose-floating anchor refueling system, the other is the flying truss refueling system.

It's been more than ten years. -- Because there was no suitable bulk aircraft, the H-6 bomber could only be converted into an air tanker, called the H-6, and only hose-type refueling could be completed by using the refueling pods hanging on both sides of the wings. The speed of refueling in this way will be relatively slow, because the tonnage of the bombing 6 itself is relatively small, and the fuel that can be supplied to the receiving engine is not much, so it is not a big disadvantage.

The refueling machine is modified synchronously with the tanker, the J-11 has been considered in the original design of the air refueling model, the use of retractable refueling probe, J-8, J-10 these refueling aircraft, are the later modification of the fixed refueling probe, the flight resistance is relatively large, and it is not conducive to radar stealth. --In general, due to the lack of platforms, experience and technology, China's air refueling technology is not advanced enough compared with the United States, Soviet Russia and European countries, and the scale of application is also very small.

The world's first air tanker was born in the United States in 1923. On August 27, 1923, over San Diego Bay, California, USA, two planes were flying in formation, hanging a hose more than 10 meters long from the plane flying above the front. During the 37-hour flight, the two aircraft filled each other with a total of 678 gallons of gasoline and lubricants.

Its function can increase the range of the oil-receiving aircraft, prolong the endurance time, and increase the carrying payload, so as to enhance the combat capability of the air force. Most of the refueling equipment of air tankers is mounted in the tail of the fuselage, and a few are installed in pods under the wings, which are operated by pilots or refuelers. There are two main types of refueling equipment: plug cone sleeve type and telescopic tube type.

<> "With the continuous development of technology, many scientific and technological products have emerged, among which the air tanker is a very outstanding technical achievement. So what is an air tanker? An air tanker is an aircraft that can refuel its own aircraft during flight, also known as an air tanker.

Their pants are connected through suction pipes to transfer jet fuel from one aircraft to another. Today we will focus on the world's largest air tanker.

According to related reports, the world's largest air tanker is the US Air Force's C-5M Super Galaxy air tanker. The giant aircraft was originally produced as a military aircraft to provide the U.S. military with ultra-heavy airlift capabilities. Later, the Air Force converted it into an air tanker to support the combat operations of other aircraft, such as its fighters.

The main advantage of the C-5M Super Galaxy Air Tanker is its enormous flight capabilities. The wingspan of this giant aircraft reached 222 feet, or meters, which is larger than any other air tanker. With a maximum take-off weight of up to 381 tons, it can reach a maximum speed of Mach, even at high altitudes.

In addition to this, the fuel volume of the C-5M Super Galaxy Air Tanker is also very impressive. It is claimed to be able to carry more than 250,000 pounds of jet fuel, which far exceeds the fuel limits of other air tankers. As a result, the C-5M Super Galaxy Air Tanker can provide enough fuel for multiple aircraft in a single mission, while also transporting fuel to a designated location separately.

Although the weight and size of the C-5M Super Galaxy Air Tanker is enormous, its operational performance is outstanding. The aircraft features a state-of-the-art emergency thrust reverser system and an advanced on-board electronic control system, which allows the crew to easily operate the aircraft during a variety of in-flight refueling missions.

In conclusion, the C-5M Super Galaxy Air Tanker is currently the largest air tanker in the world. Its closed knowledge advantage is that it has strong flight ability, can carry a large amount of fuel, and has excellent handling performance. Its appearance not only facilitates the combat operations of military aircraft, but also plays a very great role in promoting air transportation in the civilian field.

The Chinese Air Force will soon be equipped with eight Il-78 large air tankers, the first batch of three will be fully delivered in 2006. The main thing is to refuel the Su-30 (f11). F8II, F10, B7, B6, Y8 and Il-76 can also be refueled by Il-78 after being equipped with an oil-receiving device.

At the beginning of 2004, the Russian-Iryushin Aviation Complex announced that China was studying the possibility of mass-purchasing Il-76MD and Il-78 air tankers. According to unofficial **** reports, the Chinese side wants to get 30 Il-76MD and 6 Il-78. At present, the Russian Air Force has a total of 220,270 Il-76 aircraft, most of which are Il-76MD types, and about 200 Il-76 aircraft are used by Russian civil aviation airlines.

The IL-76MD is equipped with 4 -30 aero engines, with a maximum take-off weight of 190 tons, a maximum load of 48 tons, a cruising speed of 800 kilometers per hour, a speed of 260 kilometers per hour when airborne, a maximum range of 7,500 kilometers (a maximum load of 4,400 kilometers), a wingspan of meters, a length of meters, a height of meters, a crew of 7 people, equipped with advanced electronic equipment such as navigation radar, weather radar and on-board computer.

The Chinese side wants to get 30 Il-76MD and 6 Il-78

<> "Many domestic airlines have purchased A330, but it is its military version: empty code did not get in the passenger car A330 MRTT, A330 MRTT is a military tanker, based on the civilian A330, the specific model is A330-200 passenger aircraft, which can be used for air refueling or strategic transportation.

The Royal Australian Air Force's A330 MRTT is named KC-30, and the Australian Air Force has spent $100 million to order five A330 MRTTs, which will be expanded later.

The Royal Saudi Air Force has six, the UAE Air Force has three, and the largest user is the British Royal Air Force, which is expected to have around 16, although 14 have been delivered back in 2016. And the KC-45 air tanker of the US military was also developed on the basis of the A330 airliner, in addition to France, Singapore and South Korea, this aircraft was also ordered. There are also several countries that are also interested in acquiring such military aircraft.

The main reason for everyone's strong interest in it is that the Airbus A330 MRTT has extremely strong passenger, cargo and refueling capabilities. It can carry up to 110 tonnes of fuel and, if the cabin is modified, can carry medical evacuation missions and carry up to 130 standard stretchers.

It is also the logistics of fighter formations, and the A330 MRTT can also refuel six fighters while carrying 45 tons of cargo and flying 4,000 kilometers. In the parameters A330 MRTT maximum flight speed: 880 km h, maximum range:

14,800 km, maximum ceiling: 13,000 m.

Air tankers play an extremely important role in the logistics arms of the Air Force They can greatly extend the endurance of fighters, attack planes, and other armed aircraft, so that they can strengthen air supremacy and intensify their in-depth strikes Because they no longer have to land on the ground for refueling, the aircraft's dependence on the airport is greatly reduced, and the flight range can be doubled or even increased, and the dispatch space of the airport can be increased at the same time

The air refueling machine is generally modified from a passenger aircraft with good performance, and there is a fuel tank with a large capacity inside The fuel is delivered to the oil receiving machine through the pipeline Generally, it is divided into hose refueling and hard pipe refueling Hose refueling is relatively safe, and will not be affected by the speed difference of the oil refueling machine The requirement is that the oil receiving machine has a prominent oil nozzle and covers the hose mouth The disadvantage is that the hose is easily affected by the air flow, and the docking requires patience, and the fuel transfer speed is low

The fuel transfer speed of the hard pipe refueling is fast and less affected by the air flow, but it is relatively dangerous Because it is a hard pipe, the speed difference of the oil receiving machine will interfere with the thrust of the oil tanker, which may cause an accident The oil receiving port of the oil receiving machine is generally on the back or neck of the aircraft Refueling in the air requires considerable technology, and the risk factor is high If it is not operated properly, it is very likely to cause damage or crash of both aircraft