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An inlet tube within a gas turbine engine which includes a primary fuel channel and a secondary fuel channel formed in a cylindrical tube body. The secondary channel has a substantially crescent shaped cross-sectional area which is complementary in shape to the primary fuel channel, such as to maxim

An inlet tube within a gas turbine engine which includes a primary fuel channel and a secondary fuel channel formed in a cylindrical tube body. The secondary channel has a substantially crescent shaped cross-sectional area which is complementary in shape to the primary fuel channel, such as to maximize the combined fuel flow area through the primary and secondary fuel channels relative to an outer diameter of the cylindrical tube body.

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1. A fuel inlet tube to an internal fuel manifold ring of a fuel injection system in a gas turbine engine, the internal fuel manifold ring being concentric with a longitudinal axis of the gas turbine engine and having at least two fuel conveying passages therein in fluid flow communication with a pl

1. A fuel inlet tube to an internal fuel manifold ring of a fuel injection system in a gas turbine engine, the internal fuel manifold ring being concentric with a longitudinal axis of the gas turbine engine and having at least two fuel conveying passages therein in fluid flow communication with a plurality of fuel injection nozzles adapted for spraying fuel into a combustor of the gas turbine engine, the fuel inlet tube comprising a solid cylindrical tube body having only two fuel channels formed therein, the two fuel channels being a primary and a secondary fuel channel, the primary and secondary fuel channels of the fuel inlet tube being connected in fluid flow communication with said at least two fuel conveying passages within the internal fuel manifold ring, the secondary fuel channel of the fuel inlet tube having a substantially crescent shaped cross-sectional area, the primary and secondary fuel channels intersecting at least a first transverse axis of the tube body which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the gas turbine engine, the secondary fuel channel being complementary in shape to the primary fuel channel such as to maximize a combined fuel flow area through the primary and secondary fuel channels relative to an outer diameter of the cylindrical tube body. 2. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein each of the primary and secondary fuel channels of the fuel inlet tube being disposed in independent fluid flow communication with a respective one of the two fuel conveying passages of the fuel manifold ring. 3. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein the secondary fuel channel includes a concave edge which faces toward the primary fuel channel. 4. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein the secondary fuel channel at least partially surrounds the primary fuel channel. 5. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein the secondary fuel channel has a greater cross-sectional area than the primary channel. 6. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein the primary fuel channel has a substantially circular cross-sectional shape. 7. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein the primary fuel channel has a substantially oval cross-sectional shape. 8. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein the primary and secondary fuel channels have a substantially constant cross-sectional shape and area along their lengths. 9. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein a portion of the tube body which forms a wall section defined between the primary and secondary fuel channels is of substantially uniform thickness. 10. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein the primary and secondary fuel channels have a substantially equal cross-sectional area. 11. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein the primary fuel channel and the secondary fuel channel are substantially symmetrical about the first transverse axis of the tube body. 12. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 11, wherein the primary fuel channel and the secondary fuel channel are disposed on opposite sides of a second transverse axis of the tube body, the second transverse axis being perpendicular to the first transverse axis. 13. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of the primary fuel channel and the secondary fuel channel is offset from the first transverse axis. 14. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein the secondary fuel channel defines a cross-sectional shape that is asymmetric relative to a first transverse axis of the tube body. 15. The fuel inlet tube as defined in claim 1, wherein the primary fuel channel is substantially crescent-shaped. 16. A fuel system of a gas turbine engine comprising an internal fuel manifold ring concentric with a longitudinal axis of the gas turbine engine and an inlet tube for supplying fuel to the internal fuel manifold ring, the inlet tube having a solid cylindrical tube body defining only two fuel channels, the two fuel channels being a primary channel and a secondary channel providing independent fuel flow to respective first and second fuel conveying passages of the internal fuel manifold ring, the primary channel of the inlet tube extending longitudinally through the tube body, the secondary channel of the inlet tube being adjacent and substantially parallel to the primary channel within the tube body, the primary and secondary fuel channels intersecting at least a first transverse axis of the tube body which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the gas turbine engine, the secondary channel having a substantially crescent shaped cross-sectional area which is complementary in shape to the primary fuel channel such as to maximize the combined fuel flow area through the primary and secondary fuel channels relative to an outer diameter of the cylindrical tube body. 17. The inlet tube as defined in claim 16, wherein the secondary fuel channel at least partially surrounds the primary fuel channel. 18. The inlet tube as defined in claim 16, wherein the primary fuel channel and the secondary fuel channel are substantially symmetrical about the first transverse axis of the tube body. 19. The inlet tube as defined in claim 18, wherein the primary fuel channel and the secondary fuel channel are disposed on opposite sides of a second transverse axis of the tube body, the second transverse axis being perpendicular to the first transverse axis. 20. The inlet tube as defined in claim 16, wherein at least one of the primary fuel channel and the secondary fuel channel is offset from to a first transverse axis of the tube body. 21. The inlet tube as defined in claim 16, wherein the secondary fuel channel defines a cross-sectional shape that is asymmetric relative to a first transverse axis of the tube body.