A 'different' Airbus A-400M Atlas - FINISHED!

[Rick Lowe]

Hey Kit, when are you going to do the modern equivalent of the Herk with the Fulton Skyhook system?? 

[PR19_Kit]

Hey Kit, when are you going to do the modern equivalent of the Herk with the Fulton Skyhook system?? 

Hmmm, on a C-5 maybe? They could pick up the entire aircraft, let alone the pilot! 

[Rick Lowe]

Hey Kit, when are you going to do the modern equivalent of the Herk with the Fulton Skyhook system?? 

Hmmm, on a C-5 maybe? They could pick up the entire aircraft, let alone the pilot! 

Yeah - have a Guppy-like or roller door-type opening nose and you can just scoop the whatever right out of the sky! 

[PR19_Kit]

Hey Kit, when are you going to do the modern equivalent of the Herk with the Fulton Skyhook system?? 

Hmmm, on a C-5 maybe? They could pick up the entire aircraft, let alone the pilot! 

Yeah - have a Guppy-like or roller door-type opening nose and you can just scoop the whatever right out of the sky! 

A C-5 comes like that as standard, but the crew couldn't see what they're trying to scoop up with the standard lifting nose, so maybe it'd have to be twin sideways opening doors? Or perhaps roller blinds?

I'll work on it.....

[Rick Lowe]

Something similar to a garage door, or the B-24 style bomb bay doors...

[zenrat]

How about an iris door.  It'd look like a giant flying leech...

[Weaver]

Hey Kit, when are you going to do the modern equivalent of the Herk with the Fulton Skyhook system?? 

Hmmm, on a C-5 maybe? They could pick up the entire aircraft, let alone the pilot! 

Yeah - have a Guppy-like or roller door-type opening nose and you can just scoop the whatever right out of the sky! 

A C-5 comes like that as standard, but the crew couldn't see what they're trying to scoop up with the standard lifting nose, so maybe it'd have to be twin sideways opening doors? Or perhaps roller blinds?

I'll work on it.....

You know how the Sikorsky Skycrane has a second (3rd?) pilot who faces backwards, and whose only job is piloting the thing down onto a load or container? Same principle with the pickup C-5: you have a piloting position that faces downwards in the underside of the nose and is useless in normal flight. However, when the nose is raised to do a pickup and the normal cockpit windows are blocked, the guy in the nose position is now raised up 90 deg and facing forwards, so he flies the plane through the pickup maneuver before handing control back to the normal pilot. Simple....

More:

The cargo is suspended above the ground by a balloon anchored by a conductive cable with release mechanisms just above and below it. The C-5 extends a ramp forwards from the cargo bay and a pair of rods ahead of the raised nose section, with a wire strung between them. The wire is connected to the positive side of the aircraft's electrical system and the balloon cable is earthed. When the C-5's wire hit the balloon cable, a current flows through it to earth which trips the release mechanisms and released the payload to fall onto the extended cargo ramp. There's a target attached to the balloon cable the same distance above the payload as the pickup pilot is above the cargo bay to give him something to aim at for a height reference.

The cargo bay needs to be empty and the tail ramp open as well to avoid the fuselage acting as a giant parachute, so you need a capture web halfway down the cargo bay which allows air to flow through it but arrests the payload at around the aircraft's CofG. if the payload doesn't have wheels, then it needs to be on a wheeled platform to ensure that it slides cleanly down the bay and doesn't just stop at the nose

This is so simple and foolproof that I can't understand why anyone hasn't done it yet: what could possibly go wrong?   

[PR19_Kit]

This is so simple and foolproof that I can't understand why anyone hasn't done it yet: what could possibly go wrong?   

Yeah, right.................. 

[Rick Lowe]

This is so simple and foolproof that I can't understand why anyone hasn't done it yet: what could possibly go wrong?   

Yeah, right.................. 

You're not just Taunting Murphy, you're poking him with a large, pointy stick...

[Weaver]

This is so simple and foolproof that I can't understand why anyone hasn't done it yet: what could possibly go wrong?   

Yeah, right.................. 

You know, if everyone had your negative attitude, the Titanic wouldn't have even been built...

[Rick Lowe]

"Quit it with them Negative Waves, Moriarity! Woofwoofwoof - that's my other Dog impression..."

[PR19_Kit]

"Quit it with them Negative Waves, Moriarity! Woofwoofwoof - that's my other Dog impression..."

Hehehe, one of my, and my family's, FAVE films! 

'It's a mother beautiful bridge and it's gonna be there!'


'No it ain't..................'

[comrade harps]

AWESOME

[ysi_maniac]

Beautiful indeed!!

[Aussie747]

Wow, just caught up on this build. What a great idea and superbly executed Kit! 

Sorry for dragging this thread from the depths but just had to comment on it!