Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Not just a think tank. An entire army of think.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, best, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


                   

Urban STOL for light planes

Use a wind-tunnel-type giant fan to allow near VTOL vertical landing of light planes
  (+2, -1)
(+2, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

This idea will probably work better with the advent of the system of automated light planes NASA is developing. By landing into a strong wind, the rollout for a landing is lessened or even eliminated depending on the speed of the wind. So,why not have an automated landing area which includes a sort of "landing wind tunnel" or vector thrust landing facility? An ordinary, current-technology light plane would enter this (large, complicated, interactive) device, slow to a hover, and then drop to a landing pad, where it would taxi off, out of the articfical wind, to its tie-down. I know this seems overly complicated, but it is probably a cheaper and safer solution than issuing every commuter an Osprey, or the commercial equivalent. Airfields could be set up in smaller areas; perhaps even the size (and format) of parking garages. You would use today's aeronautical technology for the planes, and simply add it to some kind of universal landing program linked to the wind machine. Since the wind would have to be deflected upward anyway in an urban environment, to take off, you would enter an equally artificial "thermal"--a column of air that would lift the aircraft to a safe level before forward flight... Since NASA is publishing standards for their highway in the sky, they might as well add something about the parking lot. And the driveway. (See link below.) For that matter, you could probably design a small aircraft carrier using this technique rather than stopping the plane with a tethered cable. This idea came after chewing over the crisis-type news that many small airfields around the country are closing & the real estate being developed for other purposes. As to the transition layer,and aerial buffeting that Klaatu mentions--right. New kinds of airplanes to use these facilities would have to be designed to cope with that. Sort of similar to a situation where a modern-day Corvette couldn't get across the country at all due to bad roads at the beginning of the twentieth century, but could drive very quickly across at the beginning of this one.
cloudface, Nov 05 2003

RV-9A http://www.vansairc.../public/rv-9per.htm
"Landing Distance 250 ft" [Klaatu, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Aeros http://www.windspire.com/aeros/
Landing distance Ø feet [Klaatu, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

These are made down the street from me http://www.bellagus...t/ba_609/index.html
From Bell/Textron [Letsbuildafort, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

The SkyCar on Howstuffworks.com http://www.moller.com/skycar/
[Letsbuildafort, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

nasa small aircraft transportation site http://sats.nasa.gov/
no mention of how to build a driveway for the highway in the sky [cloudface, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]


Please log in.
If you're not logged in, you can see what this page looks like, but you will not be able to add anything.



Annotation:







       As a pilot, I would like to mention that the transition zone between the "landing wind tunnel" and free flight would be an extremely rough, and unpleasant, ride.   

       There are plenty of planes that can safely be landed in the length of a football field or less. <links>   

       [mild rant] Do schools teach students an archaic form of writing format called the paragraph?
Klaatu, Nov 05 2003
  

       Hardcore baked by Bell Helicopter, and the long proposed SkyCar ... that thing is like Duke Nukem Forever -- its been promised, but I don't think its ever going to be released
Letsbuildafort, Nov 05 2003
  

       And you didn't even mention the stip-search.
Worldgineer, Nov 05 2003
  

       don't forget the swirling wind from the rotating fan. Of course, you could reduce this with vanes, but it starts to get expensive... and then there is the shear previously mentioned. I'm looking at building a Bearhawk, which takes care of a lot of that, providing you have a mere few hundred feet of cleared real estate. www.bearhawkaircraft.com
spacer, May 10 2005
  


 

back: main index

business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle