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Improved Load Alleviation Capability For The Kc-135, Adam L. Mortensen

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force will greatly increase its use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the next century and the latter part of this decade. These UAVs will require refueling like their manned counterparts. The KC-135 and the KC-10 are candidates to provide this refueling task. The KC-10 is equipped with an automatic load alleviation system on its refueling boom which minimizes radial loads at the receiver of the aircraft being refueled. The KC-135 does not have such a system on its boom. Because the boom operator relies on visual cues to tell him when the boom is bending to adjust …