Cobham, Sir Alan John (1894-1973), a British aviator, pioneered refueling in the air. He introduced his refueling system to the United States Air Force and Navy and to the British Royal Air Force in the 1950’s.
Cobham was born on May 6, 1894, in London. He served with the Royal Flying Corps in World War I (1914-1918). After the war, he entered civil aviation. In 1925 and 1926, Cobham undertook a number of long-distance flights from England to India and South Africa. To encourage government promotion of aviation, he flew from Australia to England in 1926. He landed his seaplane on the Thames River near the Parliament building. Cobham was then knighted that same year.
Cobham wrote several books about his journeys. He founded his company, Flight Refueling, Ltd., in 1934. In 1949, he developed an experimental probe-and-drogue system for aerial refueling. In this system, the aircraft with fuel trails a hose with a basketlike drogue on the end. The aircraft to be refueled then flies a rigid probe into the drogue to connect. This system is still used today. Cobham died on Oct. 21, 1973.
