Boeing received a patent
last month for a unique airplane design that would lower onto shipping
containers and then lock them into place. The strange-looking design has
landing gear that is wider than the shipping containers and a large
fuselage that opens underneath the plane for the containers to slot
into.
Existing
cargo planes don't use the standardized intermodal shipping containers
that you see on cargo ships and trains. Instead, air freight is
transported using the unit load device
(ULD) system, which packs cargo into smaller containers and onto
pallets for transport on both cargo planes and standard passenger
aircraft. Boeing's design would not only allow a plane to carry more
cargo, but would also transport air freight in the standardized
containers to streamline the shipping process.
The intermodal containers may be loaded through an opening in the bottom of the fuselage. Specifically, intermodal containers may be arranged into a row. The aircraft may be then rolled over this row of the containers and lowered onto the containers followed by engaging container corners.
Patent
Yogi has a great-if a little peculiar-animated video of what Boeing's
plane might look like in action, if it ever existed:
As
with many ambitious patents, it is likely that Boeing is simply
securing priority of an idea just in case they ever decide to act on it.
A plane that can lower its entire body and lift more than a dozen
shipping containers would require a lot of testing and design work to
actually accomplish. Still, it's a cool idea, and maybe the aerospace
giant can pull it off.
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