Refueling in the air is inherently not easy, and in the case of a heavy transport helicopter having to tow a car, it will be even more complicated.
In fact, aerial refueling technology has been used since the 1950s of the last century. It helps the aviation industry to push the limits, take the vehicles farther and significantly improve the power of the air force, helping to expand the range of direct combat. Therefore, aerial refueling has become an extremely important application in aviation and air force technology in many countries.
Aerial refueling has become an extremely important application in aviation technology.
However, aerial refueling technology for helicopters is still very rare. Currently, only a small fraction of US Air Force helicopters are equipped with aerial refueling equipment.
In principle, it can be briefly summarized as follows:
The Hercules transport plane flying ahead will release the refueling pipeline. The nozzle has a funnel-shaped mouthpiece and has an automatic opening and closing valve system. The pilot flying behind will control the helicopter to insert the hose about 2m long into the funnel-shaped end. At that time, the computer will calculate a reasonable time to open and close the refueling valve. During that time, the two planes must always fly at the same speed and keep a safe distance.
Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter refueling in the air, below is a 2-ton Hummer.
It sounds simple, but in reality, even refueling in the air is very difficult, and with a helicopter, the risk of unsafety is even higher. Not to mention the probability of collision between the two planes, the pump nozzle alone is very easy to be cut off by the helicopter rotor rotating at high speed.
In the video below we will see the level of complexity is pushed to the climax when underneath the Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter of the US Marines is still hanging a Hummer weighing no less than 2 tons, in addition to the inevitable swaying of aircraft when encountering clouds.
So you see, when we look at the screen, everything is so easy and beautiful, and the pilot’s back at that time may be drenched in sweat.