Drogue assembly for in-flight refueling

A drogue assembly for in-flight refueling including a drogue parachute comprising an annular strip of sheet material having leading and trailing circumferentially continuous edges, and means for towing the drogue parachute in flight so that it is extended with the leading edge encircling an area larger than an area encircled by the trailing edge when the drogue parachute is fully extended, whereby the material presents a certain effective area to air through which it is being towed, the towing means being connected to and substantially uniformly around the leading edge, a notional line, lying in a radial plane of the drogue parachute and passing through the leading and trailing edges, making a certain chord angle with the direction of flight, wherein resilient biasing means are provided to act on and substantially uniformly around the material and in opposition to air pressure loading on the material in flight so as to tend to increase said chord angle such that the effective area of the drogue parachute in flight is varied automatically above a certain predetermined minimum which depends upon the dimensions of the trailing edge so that the effective area is reduced as air speed is increased and vice versa, said resilient biasing means being incorporated in the drogue parachute,

• wherein the towing means comprise a circumferential array of support arms, each pivotally mounted at one end by a respective pivot mounting, the pivot mountings being arranged in a ring from which the support arms extend in one direction generally parallel to an axis with which the array is concentric, each support arm being mounted so as to be pivotable in a radial direction with respect to said axis, wherein each of the support arms is fitted to the leading edge of the drogue parachute, the arrangement being such that the support arms with the drogue parachute thereon can be collapsed within a cylindrical envelope having a diameter approximately that of the ring of pivot mountings, whereas when the drogue assembly is towed in-flight, it is extended in the manner of a parachute with the support arms flared outwardly form the axis trailing the ring of pivot mountings.