The establishment of contact between aircraft in flight for the purpose of refuelling, has until recently been regarded as a somewhat hazardous procedure employed mainly during attempts to create endurance records.

It would appear, however, that if such contact between aircraft could be established safely and as a routine operation, considerable advantages could be obtained by the employment of such a scheme.

From the point of view of commercial aviation, not only would it make possible long distance non-stop flights over regular air routes, but it would enable a large increase in pay load to be carried, since the bulk of the aircraft's consumable load, i.e., fuel, would not be taken on board until the aircraft had left the ground and climbed to a reasonable height.