Why didn't this catch on?

[Deskpilot]

An old idea that could speed up supply delivery, probably reduce long distance freight costs and make our roads safer.

 

http://www.wimp.com/fairchildpackplane/

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

I like the undercarriage, DP-been fiddling with a retractable design similar to that.

 

 

[Deskpilot]

I like the undercarriage, DP-been fiddling with a retractable design similar to that.

To which DP are you referring OK?

 

 

[SDQDI]

That's an awesome setup, I wonder why it didn't go ahead? Maybe you can make it lighter if it doesn't have to have a remove able pod? But looks like it would be ideal for military ops maybe you could even have it in flight droppable with chutes

 

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

To which DP are you referring OK?

DP=Deskpilot

 

 

[turboplanner]

I wouldn't write it off yet; a few factors slow it's adoption down, and it shares some of the same problem of demountable bodies on trucks which seem so simple but become a logistics nightmare when you run the volume up to full hubbing.

 

The most obvious is prime cost and fuel cost per tonne - and in that respect we are probably only waiting for a new engine to be invented.

 

I was involved in the design of some of the world's first ISO Refrigerated Containers, and adapted truck bodies and semi trailers to suit the first ISO 46"x46" pallets.

 

These two developments are so stunningly effective that that aircraft would only need a nose cone and four inverted twistlocks to lock a container in place, which may have been brought down from the top of a copper mine, or trucked out to the airport.

 

However, as good as those designs have been, in the several decades I've been working with concept, ISO Containers are still well short of their optimum use, and trucks and semi trailers are not even close to being able to maximise their opportunities.

 

So the aircraft's designers can take heart that the time will come, if they haven't already died of old age.

 

 

[Cosmick]

Thunder Birds are Go

 

 

[bexrbetter]

The British had a better version in the 60's ....

 

 

 

[Deskpilot]

DP=Deskpilot

OK, sure I'm working on a rear-ward retract nose wheel but I need main wheels that go sideways without rotating like a pendulum, and tucks themselves into the side of the fuselage. They must also be anchored in the fuselage, not in the wings. Another thread perhaps.

 

 

[daza]

OK, sure I'm working on a rear-ward retract nose wheel but I need main wheels that go sideways without rotating like a pendulum, and tucks themselves into the side of the fuselage. They must also be anchored in the fuselage, not in the wings. Another thread perhaps.

What about...

 

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Impressive, Daza. You have gotten a lot further with your design than me! An UL needs simplicity, lightness and total reliability. I like the idea of fold-back/stick out a little bit like Blanics and Gooney Birds.

 

My ultimate is a simple, linked system that deploys flaps and wheels in one movement.

 

 

[daza]

I can't claim any credit for that one,

 

Found it searching for ideas.

 

 

[Downunder]

Something like a Wildcat.....

 

 

 

[Soleair]

Doesn't the Sea Rey u/c retract upwards?

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Daza, that's just what I'm looking for. Thanks. Now to make it light enough.

 

 

[AVOCET]

I think that might work for the Avocet amphibian , looks light weight and compact .

 

Mike