Personal Aircraft Carrier

I often wondered what stopped the development of the gyrocopter. It seems a much simpler, cheaper and frankly safer idea than the helicopter. Was it just gas consumption, or limited payload and speed?

 

check out the American Sternweeler Association, gentlemen....if you peruse the members boats section, I believe you will be quite amused....would you believe a paddlewheel aircraft carrier?

 

Was it "just" gas consumption, or limited payload and speed?

You bet consider most airlines will KILL for a few percent more efficiency and spring for new aircraft valued at almost $100 million each.

The private folks are of the same mindset , so developing an "inefficient" design because of a usual not often needed ability , the ability to land or take off from a spot , just doesn't get done.

FF

 

Fun project

It might be fun to build a scale model of some sort of personal aircraft carrier and try landing remote control aircraft on it simply as an experiment and proof of both vessel and aircraft innovative designs.

 

Riverliver2b - that sounds wonderful - you couldn't post a more specific reference could you - boat name, or a full URL - I've browsed the site but not found it...

 

Greenseas 2: as I tried to imagine the task of guiding a remote control model aircraft onto a scaled down aircraft carrier, I realized you may have spotlighted the main problem getting a small aircraft down on a small boat, namely, control. It's hard enough to land a full size plane on an umpteen thousand tonne carrier when both are designed for the task, the pilot is trained to the Nth degree and the carrier is staffed by professionals. Now imagine an ultrallight ditzing around in the breeze like a mayfly with the DTs while the pilot tries to down it on the tiny deck of a boat bouncing over the waves with no radio communication and no landing controller ...

OK guys: how do we solve the problem?

 

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity

The key is to keep the designs simple as possible for a model boat and aircraft. It might be worthwhile to build a cheap barge with runway stripes just for visual reference. With the model aircraft, modify a training model plane with leading edge slots (Krueger flaps) that give the model more control at low speeds and give it STOL characteristics. A section of Venetian blind will work if properly fitted. For this project we aren't talking about building a model with the sophistication of the aircraft carrier Kennedy, or the need for a zillion high level technicians, just some local guys having fun and experimenting with a concept, and making the subject of this forum come alive while having a good time with a super low investment. We happen to be located near the ICW where there's a lot of commercial vessels and a local tug and barge company agreed to let us land a model on a 120' x 35' deck barge that they own. While a vessel of that size isn't really needed, most model airplanes don't have brakes so it's going to be more of a touch-and-go type experiment under static wind conditions at first, then underway later. Members at a local airport model airplane club are enthusiastic about the idea and willing to modify an old training plane for the job at hand. We're just coordinating the effort. Some club members feel that they can bring a model to a full stop, back taxi and take off again......we'll see.

It is felt that actually conducting an experiment with models beats sitting at a computer and just talking about it, plus it will be a great learning process that should provide some data for further discussion.

 

For the usual carrier landing the aircraft is WAY faster than the boat.

This will be required to land anything on the boat , the only difference will be weather the aircraft can stop & lower it self down to a full stop, helicopter , gyrocopter , or very risky full stall on the deck, or be caught by an arresting cable .

The Method used by the Navy is the Mirror Landing System.

A gyro controlled curved mirror (even aircraft carriers move about ) is mounted near the front of the boat , so the pilot can watch it.

The mirror is curved so a light shown from aft called "the Meatball" reflects the aircrafts relative altitude from the glide slope.

A green datum line on either side of the mirror is the reference.

IF the meatball is on the green datum line , you are in good shape.

If the ball is seen high , the aircraft is high , if the ball looks low , the aircraft could be in for a Ramp Strike , an event that ruins your whole day.

Something like this will be needed for every sort of landing .

FF

 

Experiment

Hi Fred,
The meat ball is a good idea for carrier trained pilots, but this experiment with radio controlled model airplanes is beneficial in that there is no one putting their life at risk and we can learn a lot of the dynamics that would impact a full scale personal aircraft carrier without the risks or need for landing equipment. In conversation with another tug captain, it was decided to put the barge on the hip (Tug along side the barge) to preclude having to land models over the tug. Operators of the model aircraft will be operating from onboard the tug, much the same as the "air boss" does on a real carrier except that they will be controlling the models from that location. We also have a chase boat to pick up any models that ditch. The plan is coming together slowly but purposefully. Model aircraft owners used a blue snap line to outline a 130' x 35' area on a paved runway to start practicing their landing techniques. One guy even has a model Corsair with an 8 foot wing span, but it's doubtful that he will use it on the project.

For anyone ANTICIPATING LANDING A REAL AIRPLANE ON A vessel, it is hopeful that they went through NAVY FLIGHT SCHOOL FIRST. I think this project is about as close as anyone will come to building a personal aircraft carrier and airplane.

 

Carter Aviation Copter

Carter Aviation Technologies is a research and development company, pioneering new aviation concepts. Our primary focus is the slowed-rotor compound aircraft, a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that uses the rotor for takeoff and landing, and a small, efficient wing for high speed flight, up to 500 mph, all with much less complexity than a tilt-rotor or other vectored thrust vehicle. We successfully demonstrated the slowed rotor concept with the CarterCopter Technology Demonstrator (CCTD), the first and only aircraft to reach mu-1......

http://www.cartercopters.com/highlight_video.html

http://www.cartercopters.com/index.html

...and check out this single place small gyro verson
http://www.cartercopters.com/ctd-t.html

CONCEPTS
http://www.cartercopters.com/concepts.html

 

Going back to the title here, I think the reason for no personal aircraft carrier is that it's hard to drive the boat and the plane at the same time.

If you're driving the boat, then you're not flying the plane, which is the fun part.

If you're flying the plane, then somebody else is the captain on your boat, and it's big enough to land a plane on. Such a thing is unimaginable.

Either way, if the plane crashes your private carrier will probably not fare as well as the real thing and your boat will be covered in burning fuel and plane wreckage, and either your guts or the guts of somebody you probably liked quite a bit up until a few minutes ago.

 

way to go with the video Brian
that thing is really slick

cheers
B

 

It might not have been what the first poster originally had in mind but i would definitely go the seaplane route.

That way the boat only need be large enough to house the plane. I would consider a one piece swing wing as the starting point on how to get the plane inside the ship, through a ramp in an openable transom.

The main design challenge would be to maximize the window of conditions in which a take off and landing could be safely effectuated. Retractable foils could no doubt assist the plane transfer support from air to water and back more smoothly to better handle chop. Jon Howes could have something to say about such a foil system.

The thing is large aircraft carriers have small roll and pitch amplitudes and very slow periods. Even then it is not easy. On a much smaller ship the amplitudes and frequency are much greater, so it would only be safely usable in calm conditions, which limits the practicality of the concept. Hence my emphasis on rough water takeoff/landing of a seaplane, which i think is a technical problem that is much more solvable.

Imagine the stern pitching up a couple of feet just in time for your pinpoint touchdown and catching you right below the nose. OUCH! Splooch! Glub, glub. Not so fun. And it doesn't take much weather to pitch a 120 footer up and down at the ends a few feet.

 

how about a mast on a swiveling base
computer controlled to remain vertical in any sea state
the air car could approach and with a cone like aperture settle on the mast
an internal mechanism could grip the mast
and then the pilot could go full throttle to keep tension on the system
from there he is attached to the craft and could winch himself down the mast to the deck
kinda a cross between a mid air fueling and a Estes rocket launch
but in reverse

 

There are a lot of planes and pilots that can fly slower than that and land in a much shorter distance than you're talking. Just look at some of the bush pilot takeoff and landing contests in youtube.