Patent ID: 8366041

Claim:
An aircraft section of an aircraft, the aircraft section comprising: a first landing gear compartment and a second landing gear compartment, each of the first landing gear compartment and the second landing gear compartment comprising a roof; a central compartment flanked by the first and second landing gear compartments; an aircraft floor, the aircraft floor including a plurality of central rails coupled to a rigid structure of the aircraft and extending along a longitudinal axis of the aircraft, a plurality of lateral rails sandwiching the plurality of central rails, the plurality of central and the plurality of lateral rails being parallel to each other and extending along a longitudinal axis of the aircraft, each lateral rail of the plurality of lateral rails extending along the roof of either the first landing gear compartment or the second landing gear compartment, a plurality of vertical connecting rods, each vertical connecting rod of the plurality of vertical connecting rods connecting a lateral rail of the plurality of lateral rail to the roof of one of the first landing gear compartment or second landing gear compartment along which the lateral rail extends, and a plurality of floor panels, each floor panel of the plurality of floor panels being positioned between two adjacent lateral rails of the plurality of lateral rails so as to form a flat surface, wherein transverse forces to which the plurality of lateral rails are subjected pass through the plurality of floor panels to the plurality of central rails, the transverse forces being absorbed thereby.