Aeronautics and astronautics – Landing gear – Water landing
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-22
2001-11-20
Swiatek, Robert P. (Department: 3643)
Aeronautics and astronautics
Landing gear
Water landing
C114S292000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06318670
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS NOT APPLICABLE
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Not Applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to water wings for airplane floats and particularly to water wings for airplane floats that allow floats to go on-step faster.
2. Description of related art
Small airplanes with floats have been used for decades. These planes are able to land and take off from bodies of water, such as lakes. This ability gives people greater access to backcountry locations. Despite the benefits of floats, they do have some drawbacks. Most notably are the weight restrictions on loading float planes. Because these planes take off on water, they require a lot of room to gain speed. Moreover, excess weight may make it impossible to get the plane off the water in a reasonable space, if at all. The problem centers on the floats themselves. They sit in the water until the plane gets enough speed to go “on step”. Once on step, the drag of the water on the floats is greatly reduced, allowing the plane to gain speed for takeoff.
Although some planes have been built for amphibious use, and some embody some type of water wing system, none has used such a wing on a typical float structure.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The instant invention overcomes these problems. It uses a small wing, located on the inside face of each float. The wings are fixed in place and cause the plane to go on step in ⅓ the space normally required. This enables a plane to take off on much smaller bodies of water. Conversely, the shorter step distance allows a plane to carry more weight than was possible before.
REFERENCES:
patent: D. 148255 (1947-12-01), Salisbury
patent: 1728609 (1929-09-01), Holler
patent: 3159364 (1964-12-01), Sheaffer et al.
Swiatek Robert P.
Tavella Michael J.
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