Mid-air refuelling plane designed

Tourists could one day see their flights refuelled in the air on the way to their holiday hotspots, according to research by a group of university students.

Students from Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, have unveiled ideas for a new family of aircraft specifically designed for air-to-air refuelling.

In front of 200 guests from the industry, the military and academia, as well as representatives from manufacturers such as EADS, Boeing, and Airbus, the students showed off the new MRT7-T aircraft.

At a conference last Thursday, they gave presentations on cabin layout, fuel systems, propulsion, landing gear, avionics and structural design.

The aircraft, designed for refuelling in the air, are said to be the first of their kind.

Course director and senior lecturer Phil Stocking said up until now, refuellers were converted civil aircraft.

He said the students had designed an aircraft solely made for the purpose.

Mr Stocking said currently only military aircraft used air-to-air refuelling.

But he said if refuelling in the air could be developed for passenger jets, it would help the environment and potentially save money.

He said: "One of the advantages is to the environment because with civil airlines you could take off with a much reduced fuel-load which means the aircraft weighs a lot less. So when you take off from the airport you have less noise and less emissions."

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