Patent ID: 6341573
Filing Date: 2002-01-29
Classification: B63B,B63H

Abstract:
A ship convertible to a floating aircraft runway supported above water level by slender vertical buoyant legs, said ship comprising:a buoyant horizontal upper hull having an elongate top surface; a plurality of slender buoyant legs disposed below the upper hull and attached to the hull by hinges, the legs being pivotable about the hinges to rotate downwardly from a retracted horizontal configuration to an extended vertical configuration for lifting the upper hull above water level, wherein a horizontal-to-vertical transformation of the buoyant legs is caused by shifting ballast from a forward portion to an aft portion of each leg when the legs are disposed in the horizontal configuration, said ballast accumulating in a lower portion of the legs as the legs pivot downwardly to assume the vertical configuration; a waterjet propulsion means for the ship, said propulsion means adaptable for maintaining or changing position of the ship when said legs are in the horizontal or the vertical configuration; wherein the entire top surface of the upper hull comprises the runway, and has an area sized to launch and land large fixed-wing aircraft in a substantially horizontal direction directly on the runway without a need for a catapult or a landing assist method.