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Militaries around the world often have a need for a rapidly
deployable landing pad which is light, strong, cheap and
easy
to construct. The VP-LP makes use of the same
phenomenon
which gives vacuum-packed coffee bricks their rigidity (See
Link).
Soldiers arrive by land or parachute
with what looks like
rolled
up waterbed mattresses which are laid out on the desired
landing spot. The difference is that these 'mattresses' are
4m
x 4m x 100mm thick. A large plastic manhole is unscrewed
and the VP-LP is filled with sand or whatever soil is locally
available. When roughly full, the manhole is replaced and a
small vacuum pump removes the air. Voila! Instant rigidity
and a waterproof, dust-proof flat surface. Obviously several
of these could be linked together to provide a large a
surface as is required.
Vacuum packed coffee brick being opened.
https://www.youtube...watch?v=i38oIXxKGfI
Note how it goes from very strong and rigid to floppy and friable. [AusCan531, Jan 10 2017]
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Annotation:
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//a need for a rapidly deployable landing pad// I thought the point about helicopters was that they could manage without a landing pad? |
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This would work well with sandbags. The inventor that invented the inner structure sandbag made enough money to acquire the Segway company! |
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There are even more sandbags than helicopter landing pads. |
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Why not just use HE to level and clear the required area in one simple, quick operation? Much less bulky, no shovelling ... |
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One of the major advantages of being military, apart from the primary one of being allowed to shoot pretty much anyone you take a dislike to, is that there are generally plentiful supplies of HE or repurposable ordnance close to hand. All that's needed is someone with the necessary skills, experience, and a total lack of consideration for the environment. |
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I still don't understand the use of this landing pad. |
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If you're landing a helicopter in open country, why do you need a landing pad? Equally, if you can't land a helicopter because of huge boulders or trees, this won't help. On the other hand, my helicopters always land on the lawn, so I don't have first-hand experience. |
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//I thought the point about helicopters was that they could
manage without a landing pad?// |
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Soft sand, mud, loose soil all cause stability issues for the
landing skids while blowing gravel and sand dislodged by
the downdraft is a serious risk to blades, engines and
personnel. My company occasionally creates these landing
pads by spraying various cementatious materials to bind
loose soils. They are usually water-based and subsequently
heavy to transport and require specialised application. |
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Sort of whoopie cushion for helicopters? That would have cheered up the troops no end in the Tet offensive. |
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Just peg out a big tarpaulin to keep the FOD down, and put
load spreading landing pads on the chopper skids. |
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//Soft sand, mud, loose soil all cause stability issues// |
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Ah, OK - now it makes sense. [+] |
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