Multi-purpose aircraft

An aircraft having a landing gear assembly operable in flight for permitting the aircraft to land on a hard surface, snow, mixed snow and hard surface, or water, comprising:

• a wing structure;
• a hull fuselage;
• a forward landing gear assembly comprising a steerable forward ski assembly and a steerable wheel gear assembly moveable relative to said fuselage from an extended position for landing on a hard surface to a retracted position during flight or for water landing;
• a main landing gear assembly moveable relative to said fuselage during flight from a first position substantially retracted within said fuselage to a second position substantially extended from said fuselage, said main landing gear assembly comprising a main wheel gear assembly and a covering ski assembly;
• said main landing gear assembly further comprising a main landing gear actuating assembly operable by the aircraft's pilot during flight which deploys said main wheel gear assembly to said extended second position for landing on a hard surface;
• said main landing gear assembly further comprising a separate actuating assembly for extending said covering ski assembly through a range of ski positions relative to said main wheel gear assembly;
• wherein said main landing gear assembly, when in said retracted first position, forms an integral part of the fuselage, with said covering ski assembly forming part of the exterior surface thereof, said covering ski assembly forming a substantially flush surface with said fuselage permitting said aircraft to take off from or land on water;
• wherein both said forward ski assembly of said forward landing gear assembly and said covering ski assembly of said main landing gear assembly are deployable relative to the respective forward and main wheel gear assemblies such that said ski gear assemblies may be deployed to a position slightly above the lowest point of said wheel gear assemblies to facilitate safe operation of the aircraft on mixed snow and hard surfaces.

An aircraft capable of takeoff from and landing on snow or water, comprising:

• a wing structure;
• a hull fuselage;
• a forward landing gear assembly moveable relative to said fuselage during flight from a first position substantially retracted within said fuselage to a second position substantially extended from said fuselage, said forward landing gear assembly comprising a steerable forward ski assembly,
• a main landing gear assembly moveable relative to said fuselage during flight from a first position substantially retracted within said fuselage to a second position substantially extended from said fuselage, said main landing gear assembly comprising a main ski gear assembly including a pair of skis,
• wherein said forward and main landing gear assemblies, when in said retracted first position, each form an integral part of the hull fuselage, with said skis forming part of the exterior surface thereof, said skis forming a substantially flush surface with said hull fuselage suitable for permitting said aircraft to take off from or land on water.

An aircraft capable of takeoff from and landing on snow, water or a hard surface, comprising:

• a wing structure;
• a hull fuselage;
• a forward landing gear assembly moveable relative to said fuselage during flight from a first position substantially retracted within said fuselage to a second position substantially extended from said fuselage, said forward landing gear assembly comprising a steerable forward wheel assembly and a steerable forward ski assembly,
• said forward landing gear assembly further comprising a forward landing gear actuator assembly operable by the aircraft's pilot during flight which selectively deploys said steerable wheel assembly or said steerable ski assembly to said extended second position for landing;
• a main landing gear assembly moveable relative to said fuselage during flight from a first position substantially retracted within said fuselage to a second position substantially extended from said fuselage, said main landing gear assembly comprising a main wheel gear assembly and a main ski gear assembly including a pair of skis,
• said main landing gear assembly further comprising a main landing gear actuator assembly operable by the aircraft's pilot during flight which selectively deploys said main wheel gear assembly or said main ski gear assembly to said extended second position for landing;
• wherein said forward and main landing gear assemblies, when in said retracted first position, forms an integral part of the hull fuselage, with said skis forming part of the exterior surface thereof, said skis forming a substantially flush surface with said hull fuselage suitable for permitting said aircraft to take off from or land on water.

A fixed wing aircraft having a plurality of propellers the positions of which relative to the fixed wing are alterable by the pilot during flight, said aircraft comprising:

• a fuselage;
• a wing structure fixedly attached to said fuselage;
• a propeller drive system moveable relative to said wing structure between an upper position and a lower position, said propeller drive system comprising:
• port and starboard propeller armatures pivotably mounted to said wing structure, each of said armatures having an upper end and a lower end,
• a port propeller mounted to said upper end of said port propeller armature and a starboard propeller mounted to said upper end of said starboard propeller armature, and
• link means operable by the aircraft's pilot during flight for pivoting said port and starboard armatures such that the upper and lower ends of said armatures alter position relative to said fixed wing structure, causing said port and starboard propellers to move between an upper propeller position and a lower propeller position, such that when the port and starboard propellers are in the lower propeller position, the propeller centers are substantially in the plane of the fixed wing structure, and when the port and starboard propellers are in the upper propeller position, substantially all of the arc of each propeller is above the wing.