Heavy Aircraft Water Takeoffs - Multi-Step Float Designs Discussed

Heavy Aircraft Water Takeoffs - Multi-Step Float Designs Discussed

It is amazing how much energy it takes to get a large float plane or seaplane off the deck and into the air. First of all, we have to understand that water is 750 times denser than air, and that's a lot to overcome. Then getting the aircraft at of the water and up on the surface also takes a lot of power, and it takes a lot of power to get the aircraft up on the step, and to break free from the surface of the water. All that energy required means that float planes and seaplanes need a tremendous amount of power.

Because of these great big large engines and they need to create so much lift to break free from that heavy water, they also require more fuel, and wings with a large camber, the type of design that is not really made for high-speed. Therein lies the problem. Now then, I suppose in the future with new materials some of these problems can be fixed. The aircraft will be lighter, the wing will be able to shape shift, and it won't take so much power to get the aircraft into the air.

Still, there's another component and a component that has to do with aerodynamics, fluid dynamics, and all of the corresponding dynamics during that transition period. That's what I'd like to talk to you about today. I would like to talk to you about conceptual designs for seaplanes and float planes during that transition from water to air. Perhaps, we need to redesign these aircraft with not only one step on the bottom of the float, but perhaps multi-steps. Or better yet floats which shape shift as the aircraft accelerates on the water, always remaining the optimum needed to break free from the water and get into the ground effect - flight.

Many float planes have wing floats, which become airborne well prior to the main floats, or the fuselage which is also designed as a float on the bottom. As the Wing starts to create lift, and the buoyancy shifts on the fuselage float and it is pulled out of the water. You could consider that one step, and then the fuselage itself has a step as the aircraft accelerates it comes up on that step, as it gets closer to flying speed.

Now then, what if we could shape shift the Wing floats and what if we could change the camber of the wing once it became airborne and was accelerating through the ground cushion? If we could do that, we could lower the amount of fuel required for take-off, and the amount of energy the aircraft had to produce to get airborne.

We would also be able to have the aircraft take-off quicker in a shorter distance. All of this would make the aircraft more efficient, and provide for less wear and tear when taking-off in choppy water, and we could solve a huge number of problems we have today with the inefficiencies in flow planes and seaplanes. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.