| Seaplanes were the best
solution in the times when long airfields didn't exist. I still believe in the future of
seaplanes as a commercial transport. Existing airfields get a lot of complains about being
noisy. Airfields near large cities are hard to get to. There are many traffic jams near
those airfields. But seaplanes have one big
disadvantage. They need more power than a landplane to get off the water surface. Riding a
wave to get airborne takes a lot of power. Parasites can change this. |
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Former parasites
in section
"Weird aviationdesigns"
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What could help a seaplane getting out of the water? I guess two things
can. Extra wing or extra power. Both put a weight penalty on the plane so
it will not perform at cruise speed. So I thought about making the plane
out of two parts. The "Slipwing" of Noël Pemberton Billing was
my inspiration. The design mentioned in the "Weird aviation
designs"-section of this site is not a seaplane. But Billing designed
a huge slipwing commercial seaplane. Pity he stopped the design with the
design of the plane and its slipwing. This sort of design also needs a new
type of airport. So here I go with my thoughts.
I see a sea-airport on a shore. It has a small landing strip on the land
and it has a harbor for the seaplanes. The seaplanes are locked into the
harbor into some rig. An airplane (for there on I call it the slipwing)
with excellent low speed performance and low noise is put on top of the
seaplane. Connected, both leave the harbor. The slipwing helps to push the
seaplane over the water. Ones the seaplane is airborne the drag of the
water doesn't exist on more on the seaplane. The seaplane which has the
wing area and power plants of a "normal" (1)
landplane can now climb steadily towards its operational height on its
own. The slipwing disconnects. It flies to the small landing strip on the
land. Once landed it can taxi towards the rigs in the harbor and be put on
top of a next seaplane. I think there could be a design made where it
rolls on its own power over the seaplane and guides itself into the
connection points.
I think that the slipwing should be a landplane with a large wing area
and a strong power plant, which produces less noise. I was thinking about
ducted fans. It has the advantage that there are no rotating parts on the
outside. So there should not be a problem during disconnection. Ducted
fans have the advantage that the prop can be smaller than on open
propellers. This can lead to compact slipwings on the back on a seaplane.
Ducted fans have the disadvantage that they should be operated in a small
speed range. This is not a disadvantage in this concept. The slipwing
takes off with the seaplane, disconnects and lands as soon as possible. It
has not the chance to gain higher speed.
Who can make benefit from this sort of air traffic? I think that both
people transport and cargo transport can gain a lot with this concept. It
could be used in small size on ferry-routes (The Channel?) and it could be
used in larger sizes on trans-continental routes.
A disadvantage is that both airports need to have the same structure. It
has to be a sea-airport and it should have the same rigs and maybe even
the same slipwings (or another design which uses the same connection
points). Storms over the water with high waves that block transport on sea
are of course also a disadvantage.
I am open for any critics. So mail me any comment you have.
I hope to insert some drawings soon to illustrate the
concept. If you feel like an artist, send me your drawing and I will place
it on this site. Please, send it as a JPG, not larger than 500 kB, maximum
width of 550 pixels. Your name will of course be mentioned. Thanks on
advance.
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