Transient air and surface contact vehicle

A combination aircraft and transient surface contact vehicle for transporting a person, said vehicle comprising

• an aerodynamic fuselage structure for carrying said person, said structure having a nose and a spaced opposite tail end, a wing mounted thereon at said tail end and fin means extending substantially perpendicularly from the surface of said wing;
• programmable navigation means mounted in said structure for directing said vehicle to a preselected point via a flight path, a ground or water path, or a combination of said paths preset in said navigation means;
• flight power means mounted on said structure for powering said vehicle for flight in a cruise path between points programmed in said navigation means;
• position control means mounted in said structure and cooperating with said navigation means at a preset point in said cruise path thereby permitting said vehicle to glide to a preset altitude above a surface whereby said vehicle settles onto said surface from said altitude, said position control means including wing flaperons and fin rudder means for directional and roll control during flight and surface movement and a canard pivotally mounted on said structure in the area of the nose thereof for pitch control during air and surface movement to produce a positive pitching moment to cause said vehicle to become airborne, a negative pitching moment to maintain said vehicle in contact with said surface and both moments to control the altitude of said vehicle when it is airborne;
• buoyant vehicle support means retracted during flight and extending from said structure prior to settling onto said surface, said vehicle support means abutting said surface and thereby supporting said vehicle at a predetermined distance above the surface of a body of water, ground, and the like, said vehicle support means including a forward strut pivotally mounted at one end at the nose of said structure and having a buoyant forward pontoon-like device at its spaced opposite end constantly abutting said surface and a pair of aft struts pivotally mounted at one end at the opposite tips of said wing and having buoyant aft pontoon-like devices at their spaced opposite ends abutting said surface upon settling on said surface and means for absorbing landing impact energy, each of said struts comprising a substantially rigid tube curved at its opposite end and having a substantially teardrop shaped cross-section for reducing drag and strengthening said strut in the primary bending direction, each of said aft struts being mounted at a corresponding tip of said wing and each of said forward and aft struts being curved at its opposite end;
• surface power means mounted in said structure for moving said vehicle along said surface at said predetermined distance above said surface;
• and
• strut mounting means including retracting means mounted on said structure and coupled to said struts for selectively retracting said struts to said structure.

A combination aircraft and transient surface contact vehicle for transporting a person, said vehicle comprising an aerodynamic fuselage structure for carrying said person, said structure having a nose and a spaced opposite tail end, a wing mounted thereon at said tail end and fin means extending substantially perpendicularly from the surface of said wing;

• programmable navigation means mounted in said structure for directing said vehicle to a preselected point via a flight path, a ground or water path, or a combination of said paths preset in said navigation means;
• flight power means mounted on said structure for powering said vehicle for flight in a cruise path between points programmed in said navigation means;
• position control means mounted in said structure and cooperating with said navigation means at a preset point in said cruise path thereby permitting said vehicle to glide to a preset altitude above a surface whereby said vehicle settles onto said surface from said altitude, said position control means including wing flaperons and fin rudder means for directional and roll control during flight and surface movement and a canard pivotally mounted on said structure in the area of the nose thereof for pitch control during air and surface movement to produce a positive pitching moment to cause said vehicle to become airborne, a negative pitching moment to maintain said vehicle in contact with said surface and both moments to control the altitude of said vehicle when it is airborne;
• buoyant vehicle support means retracted during flight and extending from said structure prior to settling onto said surface, said vehicle support means abutting said surface and thereby supporting said vehicle at a predetermined distance above the surface of a body of water, ground, and the like, said vehicle support means including a forward strut pivotally mounted at one end at the nose of said structure and having a buoyant forward pontoon-like device at its spaced opposite end constantly abutting said surface and a pair of aft struts pivotally mounted at one end at the opposite tips of said wing and having buoyant aft pontoon-like devices at their spaced opposite ends abutting said surface upon settling on said surface and means for absorbing landing impact energy, said forward pontoon-like device and each of said aft pontoon-like devices having a bottom of substantially low coefficient of friction material;
• and
• surface power means mounted in said structure for moving said vehicle along said surface at said predetermined distance above said surface.

A transient air and surface contact vehicle for transporting a person, said vehicle comprising

• a fuselage structure for carrying a person, said structure having a nose and a spaced opposite tail end, a wing mounted thereon at said tail end and fin means extending substantially perpendicular from the surface of said wing, said fin means comprising a pair of fins each at a corresponding tip of said wing
• buoyant vehicle support means extending from said structure and abutting a surface and thereby supporting said vehicle at a predetermined distance above the surface of a body of water, ground, and the like, when said vehicle is in motion, said vehicle support means including a forward strut pivotally mounted at one end at the nose of said structure and having a buoyant forward pontoon-like device at its spaced opposite end constantly abutting said surface and a pair of aft struts pivotally mounted at one end at the opposite tips of said wing and having buoyant aft pontoon-like devices at their spaced opposite ends abutting said surface, each of said struts comprising a substantially rigid tube curved at its opposite end and having a substantially teardrop shaped cross-section for reducing drag and strengthening said strut in the primary bending direction, each of said aft struts being mounted at a corresponding tip of said wing and each of said forward and aft struts being curved at its opposite end;
• power means mounted on said structure for moving said vehicle along said surface at said predetermined distance above said surface;
• and
• position control means mounted on said structure for providing pitch plane stability by trimming said vehicle as an aircraft for a pitch down moment during flight across a surface, said position control means selectively producing a negative pitching moment to maintain said vehicle in surface-following contact with said surface and a positive pitching moment to cause said vehicle to become airborne, both moments controlling the altitude of said vehicle when it is airborne, said position control means including wing flaperons and fin rudder means for directional and roll control during air and surface movement.

A combination aircraft and transient surface contact vehicle for transporting a person, said vehicle comprising

• an aerodynamic fuselage structure for carrying said person, said structure having a nose and spaced opposite tail end, a wing mounted thereon at said tail end and fin means extending substantially perpendicularly from the surface of said wing;
• programmable navigation means mounted in said structure for directing said vehicle to a preselected point via a flight path, a ground or water path, or a combination of said paths preset in said navigation means;
• flight power means mounted on said structure for powering said vehicle for flight in a cruise path between points programmed in said navigation means;
• position control means mounted in said structure and cooperating with said navigation means at a preset point in said cruise path thereby permitting said vehicle to glide to a preset altitude above a surface whereby said vehicle settles onto said surface from said altitude, said position control means providing pitch plane stability by trimming said vehicle as an aircraft for a pitch down moment during flight across a surface, said position control means selectively producing a negative pitching moment to maintain said vehicle in surface-following contact with said surface and a positive pitching moment to cause said vehicle to become airborne, both moments controlling the altitude of said vehicle when it is airborne, said position control means including wing flaperons and fin rudder means for directional and roll control during flight and surface movement and a canard pivotally mounted on said structure in the area of the nose thereof for pitch control during air and surface movement to produce said negative and positive pitching moments;
• buoyant vehicle support means retracted during flight and extending from said structure prior to settling onto said surface, said vehicle support means abutting said surface and thereby supporting said vehicle at a predetermined distance above the surface of a body of water, ground, and the like, when said vehicle is in motion, said vehicle support means including a forward strut pivotally mounted at one end at the nose of said structure and having a buoyant forward pontoon-like device at its spaced opposite end constantly abutting said surface and a pair of aft struts pivotally mounted at one end at the opposite tips of said wing and having buoyant aft pontoon-like devices at their spaced opposite ends abutting said surface upon settling on said surface and means for absorbing landing impact energy, each of said struts comprising a substantially rigid tube curved at its opposite end and having a substantially teardrop shaped cross-section for reducing drag and strengthening said strut in the primary bending direction, each of said aft struts being mounted at a corresponding tip of said wing and each of said forward and aft struts being curved at its opposite end;
• and
• surface power means mounted in said structure for moving said vehicle along said surface at said predetermined distance above said surface.

A transient air and surface contact vehicle for transporting a person, said vehicle comprising

• a fuselage structure for carrying a person, said structure having a nose and a spaced opposite tail end, a wing mounted thereon at said tail end and fin means extending substantially perpendicularly from the surface of said wing, said fin means comprising a pair of fins each at a corresponding tip of said wing;
• buoyant vehicle support means extending from said structure and abutting a surface and thereby supporting said vehicle at a predetermined distance above the surface of a body of water, ground, and the like, when said vehicle is in motion, said vehicle support means including a forward strut pivotally mounted at one end at the nose of said structure and having a buoyant forward pontoon-like device at its spaced opposite end constantly abutting said surface and a pair of aft struts pivotally mounted at one end at the opposite tips of said wing and having buoyant aft pontoon-like devices at their spaced opposite ends abutting said surface, said forward pontoon-like device and each of said aft pontoon-like devices having a bottom of substantially low coefficient of friction material, each of said struts comprising a substantially rigid tube curved at its opposite end and having a substantially teardrop shaped cross-section for reducing drag and strengthening said strut in the primary bending direction, each of said aft struts being mounted at a corresponding tip of said wing and each of said forward and aft struts being curved at its opposite end;
• power means mounted on said structure for moving said vehicle along said surface at said predetermined distance above said surface;
• position control means mounted on said structure for providing pitch plane stability by trimming said vehicle as an aircraft for a pitch down moment during flight across a surface, said position control means selectively producing a negative pitching moment to maintain said vehicle in surface-following contact with said surface and a positive pitching moment to cause said vehicle to become airborne, both moments controlling the altitude of said vehicle when it is airborne, said position control means including wing flaperons and fin rudder means for directional and roll control during air and surface movement;
• and
• strut mounting means including retracting means mounted on said structure and coupled to said aft struts for selectively retracting said aft struts to said structure.