Method and apparatus for actuating an aircraft nose portion

An aircraft, comprising:

• a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a pitch axis generally transverse to the longitudinal axis, the fuselage including:
• a pressure bulkhead extending from a position at least proximate to an upward facing surface of the fuselage to a Position at least proximate to a downward facing surface of the fuselage;
• a pressurized payload portion aft of the pressure bulkhead;
• and
• a nose portion forward of the pressure bulkhead, the nose portion being pivotable relative to the pressurized payload portion about a pivot axis generally parallel to the pitch axis while the pressurized payload portion is capable of being pressurized relative to a region external to the aircraft, the nose portion being pivotable between a first position with the nose portion generally aligned with the longitudinal axis, and a second position with the nose portion being inclined upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis, the nose portion being configured to withstand an internal pressure less than an internal pressure of the pressurized payload portion during operation.

An aircraft, comprising:

• a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a pitch axis generally transverse to the longitudinal axis, the fuselage further having a fuselage length and including:
• a pressurized payload portion;
• and
• a nose portion forward of the pressurized payload portion, the nose portion being movable relative to the pressurized payload portion to change from a first configuration with the nose portion and the fuselage having a combined first length to a second configuration with the nose portion and the fuselage having a combined second length about 5 percent or more shorter than the first length.

An aircraft, comprising:

• a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a pitch axis generally transverse to the longitudinal axis, the fuselage including:
• a pressurized payload portion;
• a nose portion, the nose portion being pivotable relative to the pressurized payload portion about a pivot axis generally parallel to the pitch axis, the nose portion being pivotable between a first position with the nose portion generally aligned with the longitudinal axis and a second position with the nose portion being inclined upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis, wherein the aircraft is configured for forward flight when the nose portion is in the first position, and wherein the aircraft is configured for ground taxi when the nose portion is in the second position;
• and
• a restraint operatively coupled to the nose portion to prevent motion of the nose portion to the second position while the aircraft is in flight.

An aircraft, comprising:

• a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a pitch axis generally transverse to the longitudinal axis, the fuselage including:
• a pressure bulkhead extending from a position at least proximate to an upward facing surface of the fuselage to a position at least proximate to a downward facing surface of the fuselage;
• a pressurized payload portion aft of the pressure bulkhead;
• a nose portion forward of the pressure bulkhead, the nose portion being pivotable relative to the pressurized payload portion about a pivot axis generally parallel to the pitch axis while the pressurized payload portion is capable of being pressurized relative to a region external to the aircraft, the nose portion being pivotable between a first position and a second position, the nose portion being generally aligned with the longitudinal axis when in the first position, the nose portion being inclined upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis when in the second position;
• and
• a restraint operatively coupled to the nose portion to generally prevent motion of the nose portion during flight.

An aircraft, comprising:

• a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a pitch axis generally transverse to the longitudinal axis, the fuselage including:
• a pressure bulkhead;
• a pressurized payload portion aft of the pressure bulkhead;
• and
• a nose portion forward of the pressure bulkhead, the nose portion being pivotable relative to the pressurized payload portion among three positions about a pivot axis generally parallel to the pitch axis, the nose portion being generally aligned with the longitudinal axis when in a first position, the nose portion being inclined upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis when in a second position, and the nose portion being inclined downwardly relative to the longitudinal axis when in a third position.

An aircraft, comprising:

• a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a pitch axis generally transverse to the longitudinal axis, the fuselage further having a fuselage length and including:
• a pressure bulkhead;
• a pressurized payload portion aft of the pressure bulkhead,
• a pivot support member projecting forward of the pressure bulkhead;
• and
• a nose portion forward of the pressure bulkhead, the nose portion being pivotably coupled to the pivot support member to pivot relative to the pressurized payload portion about the pitch axis while the pressurized payload portion is capable of being pressurized relative to a region external to the aircraft, the nose portion being pivotable between a first position and a second position, the nose portion being generally aligned with the longitudinal axis when in the first position, the nose portion being inclined upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis when in the second position, the nose portion having a nose portion length of at least about 10 percent of the combined fuselage length and nose portion length.

An aircraft, comprising:

• fuselage means having a longitudinal axis and a pitch axis generally transverse to the longitudinal axis, the fuselage means including:
• pressure barrier means extending from a position at least proximate to an upward facing surface of the fuselage means to a position at least proximate to a downward facing surface of the fuselage means;
• a pressurized payload portion aft of the pressure barrier means;
• and
• nose means forward of the pressure barrier means, the nose means being pivotable relative to the pressurized payload portion about a pivot axis generally parallel to the pitch axis while the pressurized payload portion is capable of being pressurized relative to a region external to the aircraft, the nose means being pivotable between a first position and a second position, the nose means being generally aligned with the longitudinal axis when the nose means are in the first position, the nose means being inclined upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis when the nose means are the second position.

A method for reducing a length of an aircraft during operation, comprising:

• flying the aircraft while the aircraft has a first length;
• landing the aircraft;
• reducing the length of the aircraft to a second length by pivoting a nose portion of the aircraft upwardly;
• moving the aircraft with the second length relative to an unloading area;
• and
• unloading the aircraft at the unloading area only through one or more openings that are spaced apart from the nose portion.

A method for reducing a length of an aircraft during operation, the aircraft having a nose portion with a forwardmost tip, an aft portion with an aftmost tip and a first length between the forwardmost tip and the aftmost tip, the method comprising:

• moving the aircraft toward an unloading area having an obstacle at the same elevation as the nose portion;
• pivoting the nose portion of the aircraft upwardly from a first position with the nose portion generally aligned with a longitudinal axis of the aircraft to a second position with the nose portion inclined upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis at least until the aircraft has a second length less than the first length;
• moving the aircraft with the nose portion in the second position toward the obstacle at least until a distance between the obstacle and the aftmost tip is less than the first length of the aircraft;
• and
• unloading the aircraft at the unloading area.

A method for reducing a length of an aircraft during operation, comprising:

• flying the aircraft while the aircraft has a first length;
• landing the aircraft;
• changing a configuration of a nose portion of the aircraft to reduce the length of the aircraft to a second length, the second length being about 5 percent or more shorter than the first length;
• and
• unloading the aircraft at an unloading area through one or more openings that are spaced apart from the nose portion.

An aircraft, comprising:

• a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a pitch axis generally transverse to the longitudinal axis, the fuselage including:
• a pressure bulkhead;
• a pressurized payload portion aft of the pressure bulkhead;
• and
• a nose portion forward of the pressure bulkhead, the nose portion being pivotable relative to the pressurized payload portion about a pivot axis generally parallel to the pitch axis, the nose portion being pivotable between a first position and a second position, the nose portion being generally aligned with the longitudinal axis when the nose portion is in the first position, the nose portion being inclined upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis when the nose portion is in the second position, wherein a pressure within the pressurized payload portion is independent of a pressure within the nose portion during operation.

An aircraft, comprising:

• a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a pitch axis generally transverse to the longitudinal axis, the fuselage including:
• a pressure bulkhead;
• a pressurized payload portion aft of the pressure bulkhead;
• and
• a nose portion forward of the pressure bulkhead, the nose portion being pivotable relative to the pressurized payload portion about a pivot axis generally parallel to the pitch axis while the pressurized payload portion is capable of being pressurized relative to a region external to the aircraft, the nose portion being pivotable between a first position with the nose portion generally aligned with the longitudinal axis, and a second position with the nose portion being inclined upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis, the nose portion being configured to withstand an internal pressure less than an internal pressure of the pressurized payload portion during operation, wherein the nose portion is configured to have an internal pressure approximately equal to a pressure external to the nose portion.

A method for operating an aircraft having a pivotable nose portion, comprising:

• at least partially sealing a pressurized portion of a fuselage of the aircraft so the pressurized portion is capable of being pressurized relative to a region external to the fuselage, the fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a pitch axis generally transverse to the longitudinal axis;
• pivoting a nose portion of the aircraft relative to the pressurized portion about a pivot axis generally parallel to the pitch axis, wherein pivoting includes pivoting the nose portion from a first position with the nose portion generally aligned with the longitudinal axis to a second position with the nose portion inclined upwardly relative to the longitudinal axis while the pressurized portion is capable of being pressurized relative to a region external to the fuselage;
• and
• unloading the aircraft at an unloading gate by moving a jetway at least approximate to the aircraft and moving passengers through the jetway to and from the aircraft.