In combination with an aircraft having landing gear which has a retracted position for flight operation and an extended position for take-off and landing, said aircraft being characterized in that with the aircraft being supported from a ground surface by the landing gear in the extended position, said aircraft is supported at a first operating level,
- an apparatus adapted to enable said aircraft to be at a relatively low position relative to the ground surface for loading and unloading cargo therefrom, said apparatus comprising a plurality of elevating units, each elevating unit being located in said aircraft at a related support position where there is a related aircraft bearing member fixedly mounted to a structural frame of said aircraft, each of said elevating units comprising:
- (a) a laterally extendable carriage having a first stowed position in said aircraft and a second operating position located outwardly of said aircraft,
- (b) a hydraulic elevating member comprising a cylinder and piston which are mounted to said carriage and have a generally horizontal stowed position with said carriage in its stowed position, and a second operating position wherein said elevating member extends downwardly from said extendable carriage at the support position, said piston having a rod extending upwardly from said cylinder with the elevating member in its operating position, said piston rod having at its upper end a matching bearing member to engage the bearing member at the support location, so as to transmit vertical and lateral force components directly into the bearing member of the structural frame independently of the carriage,
- (c) a ground support assembly mounted to said cylinder, said support assembly comprising a plurality of leg members pivotally mounted at upper ends thereof at circumferentially spaced locations at an upper end portion of the cylinder, said leg members having a first collapsed position alongside of said cylinder and an expanded support position where said leg members extend downwardly and outwardly from the upper end portion of the cylinder, each leg having at its lower end a ground engaging foot portion,
- (d) a leg deploying means comprising a strut assembly having a first collapsed position where said leg members are in their collapsed position and a second deployed position where said leg members are held outwardly in their expanded support position, said deploying means having an actuating member having a ground engaging portion positioned vertically below the foot portions of the leg members with the elevating member in its downwardly extending operating position, said actuating member being operatively connected to said deploying means in a manner that upward movement of the ground engaging portion of the actuating member relative to the cylinder causes movement of the deploying means to its deployed position,
- (e) said elevating unit being characterizd in that with said elevating member and said carriage in the stowed position, the support assembly and the deploying means are in the collapsed condition, said elevating member and said carriage being movable to the operating position where the elevating member extends downwardly, with the ground engaging portion of the deploying means extending toward a ground surface below said aircraft, said elevating member being extendable by action of the cylinder and piston, so that said cylinder moves downwardly relative to the piston, causing said ground engaging member to engage said ground surface, thus extending the leg members from the collapsed position to the extended position, said elevating member then being retractable to a lower position where the matching bearing member of the piston is proximate the upper end portion of the piston and thus proximate the upper cylinder portion,
- whereby with the aircraft supported by the landing gear in the extended position, the elevating members of the elevating units can be moved outwardly to the operating position, the elevating members can be extended to cause engagement of the ground engaging portions of the actuating means to cause the leg members to move to the deployed position and then come into ground engagement, with further extension of the elevating units causing the landing gear to be raised from the ground, after which the landing gear can be moved to the retracted position, with subsequent retraction of the elevating members lowering the aircraft to a lower position, with the bearing portions of the piston rods being proximate the upper end portions of the cylinders, so that lateral load components on the aircraft are transmitted from the matching bearing members into the extended legs of the elevating units.