Sponson tow plate-mounted helicopter armament apparatus and associated methods
OwnerPaul H. Sandersoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
External armament apparatus, including a machine gun, an associated ammunition box for supplying belted ammunition to the gun, a flare dispenser, a missile launcher or other external stores apparatus, and a forward looking infrared sensor (FLIR), is exteriorly supported on a landing gear sponson tow plate of a helicopter, adjacent a cabin area gunner's window. The external mounting of the gun and other armament apparatus frees up cabin space, permits the gunner's window to be closed with the gun in a ready position, and permits a 0.50 caliber machine gun to be used an alternative to either a 7.62 mm mini-gun or a single barrel 7.62 mm machine gun adjacent the gunner's window.
Claims27
Armament apparatus for an aircraft, comprising:
- a landing gear structure, said landing gear structure being a sponson structure;
- a mounting member secured to said landing gear structure and having an opening extending therethrough along a first axis;
- an elongated support arm extending along a vertically inclined second axis and having a lower end coaxially received in said mounting member opening, and an upper end;
- a machine gun support structure secured to said upper end of said support arm;
- and,
- an attachment structure non-rotatably locking said lower end of said support arm to said mounting member.
Armament apparatus for an aircraft, comprising:
- a landing gear structure, said landing gear structure being a sponson structure;
- a mounting member secured to said landing gear structure, said mounting member having an opening extending therethrough along a first axis, said opening having axially spaced apart conically tapered first and second annular interior surface portions;
- an elongated support arm extending along a second axis and having a first end portion coaxially received in said support member opening, and a second end portion spaced apart from said first end portion along said second axis, said first end portion having a conically tapered annular exterior surface portion complementarily engaging said first interior surface portion of said mounting member opening;
- a machine gun support member secured to said second end of said support arm and extending along a third axis angled relative to said second axis;
- and
- an attachment structure locking and stabilizing said first end portion of said support arm within said opening in said mounting member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.