Luxury | Rarity | Originality

Many of our decorative items have an Engineering or Aerospace connection.

We are always on the lookout for cutaway models because they really do make fantastic decorative items which also educate us at the same time.

We now have an interesting Cut Away from an Ariel Refuelling Drogue which

made me want to share a few interesting facts.

The introduction of Ariel Refuelling really did revolutionise military air
transport capability in many ways.

• It enables military aircraft to remain airborne for longer and has proved an essential part of air combat.

• It allows for a shorter take off due to less weight as fuel tanks do not need to be filled to capacity.

• It helps to reduce fuel consumption by up to 30-40% due to flying light.

• The reduced weight allows for a greater take off pay-load of weapons, cargo or personnel.

Amazingly the first Arial Refuelling was achieved in 1923.

Previous to this Arial Refuelling was achieved by passing a fuel can by hand to a low-flying aircraft from a car travelling at high speed!

Arial refuelling was about to be employed on Lancaster bombers just as WWII ended.

The process was revolutionised by Sir Alan Cobham who was a member of the Royal Flying Corps in WWI and a pioneer of long distance aviation. He
founded Flight Refuelling Limited in 1934.

Cobham plc is now a global technology company for space, air land and sea.

So next time you are filling up the car with fuel, spare a thought for thehighly skilled personnel in the RAF and other Air Forces around the world
who do this job up in the air… Refuelling can occur at speeds of up to 300mph!

Cutaway model for sale now