Patent GB-742240-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to apparatus for facilitating landing of aircraft
Inventor: DAVENPORT ARTHUR
IPC: B64F1/04
Filed: 1945-03-12
Abstract: 742,240. Landing places for aircraft; decks. WESTLAND AIRCRAFT, Ltd. March 12, 1946 [March 12, 1945], No. 6149/45. Classes 4 and 113. [Also in Group X] A landing place for aircraft consists of a resilient surface supported on a seagoing craft or anchored to the ground and composed of a series of mutually-abutting elements formed wholly or partly of rubber, the elements having unbroken surfaces and being mounted on resilient supporting means. In one form, Fig. 1, a resilient deck for an aircraft carrier comprises a surface composed of abutting sheets of tough rubber a supported from the metal deck f by a thick layer of sponge rubber b. Forward movement of the aircraft after landing is limited by a buffer comprising a wall of sponge rubber e covered with tough rubber d and backed by lateral steel wires e, the ends of which are anchored to shock-absorbers mounted on the deck f. The buffer is arranged to have a movement of about 20 feet and is formed of sections adapted to contact the nose and the leading edges of the wings of the aircraft. Longitudinal wires, the tension of which is adjustable, may be arranged beneath the rubber a so that it will deflect into furrows. In a second form, Fig. 3, a rubber deck m is supported by rows of rubber air bags j, which may be covered by a wire mesh embedded in a plastic compound, and by shock-absorbers or oil dashpots k. The latter may be inclined rearwardly so as to absorb some of the energy of forward movement of the aircraft. Alternatively, the air bags may be formed as cylinders having a middle horizontal partition, the upper halves containing air and the lower halves water or glycol. The latter are connected to reservoirs so that displaced fluid may be returned to the bags after the aircraft has landed. Bags filled wholly or partly with kapok, glass wool or the like may be used. Flexible pipes having alternate divisions filled with liquid and air may be arranged longitudinally along the deck, the shock of landing being partly absorbed by transfer of liquid to the adjacent sections containing air through interconnecting pipes and valves. In a further form, Fig. 6, the deck is formed of a series of articulated equilateral triangular panels, each comprising a metal plate q reinforced by channel members and bonded to a surface coating of tough rubber r. The panels are supported at their apices by oleo-pneumatic shock-absorbers n, the movable upper portions of which are connected to adjacent panels by six ball-jointed arms o. The shock-absorbers may be adjusted to suit different weights of aircraft. If the resilient landing surface is provided on land it is anchored at both ends and preferably at both sides. Arrester wires anchored by shockabsorbing means may be provided on the decks and may have enlargements spaced 2 feet apart along their length to prevent sideways swing of the arrestor hook. Vertical hinged members may also be arranged on the decks so as to be folded down against the action of a spring by the passage of the aircraft. According to the Provisional Specification, the surface may be composed of coconut matting or wooden planks interconnected by flexible means.