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C-01 Ground Effect Amphibious Maritime Patrol Craft |
C-01 Fact Sheet Top Speed: 400-500kts Range: 4500nm Stall Speed: @50kts (!!!) I named this beast the GroundEffect because that's simply what it is... a machine designed to ride the ground effect generated by low-altitude flying. It does this quite well. Here are a list of objectives I drew up (and suceeded in hitting) when I thought up this aircraft. 1. Must be amphibious (bah) 2. Must have STOL capability: I wanted a vehicle that could take off in short amounts of room, thus increasing the versatility of an allready versatile craft. It takes off in an unaturally small amount of space. 3. Must have significant range/duration: A maritime patrol craft must be able to "loiter" around a designated area searching for submarines and other maritime-baddies to hunt. I flew it across the country (New York Harbor to San Francisco Bay) (don't worry... I'm not THAT pathetic... it was on autopilot most of the time.) with no worries... although I landed it on fumes. 4. Carrier Capable?: I knew that having an aircraft like this carrier capable would be beneficial... though in practice difficult. A huge wingspan makes this feat challenging. It shoots off the cat no problem... landing it though... well, lets just say its a better idea to land it in the water next to the carrier and hoist it up... because it is VERY difficult to judge where this thing is going to set down. Like I said.. difficult to judge. Landing it on pavement takes a great deal of patience... and even a longer approach. The massive amounts of lift this thing generates carrier it like a sea gull caught in a rain storm... a little deviation and you could be two miles off course. Also, the extremely low stall speed means an aircraft that doesn't want to come down. This is fine over water... its a lot softer then pavement, and you can afford the higher VV you get with full speedbreaks to kill lift, but on an actual runway, this is a lot more difficult. This is a concept drawing (made durring Physics.... hahahaha) of the GE. The original lacked stability pontoons, and had a much sleeker cabin with swept horizonal stabilizers. Also had a "truck style" four-wheel rear tires. All minor things, and the outcome vehicle stayed true to the original sketch in most respects. I wanted this aircract to redesign the face of Maritime Patrol. It also has a place with the Coast Guard, as it posses the range and the ability to actually "interdict" drug-vessels and smuggler craft while they are on the water, a feat previously only done by speed boats and helicopters, whose reaction time could cause the loss of the boat. Also, rescue operations would be able to take place further from shore and more quickly with the help of an aircraft (good weather granted) that could land and pick up survivors quickly after the disaster occured. It was a fun bird to make, and hopefully the first in a series on specialty-amphibious aircraft. Amphibians are a lot of fun. DOWNLOAD C-01 GroundEffect (Version 5.62 tested) BACK TO FRONT PAGE |
