GB2241925A

GB2241925A - Floating flight deck

Info

Publication number: GB2241925A
Application number: GB9002616A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Mcleod
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-02-06
Filing date: 1990-02-06
Publication date: 1991-09-18
Also published as: GB9002616D0

Abstract

A floating flight deck comprising of two or more former oil rigs joined in a fixed or flexible manner by one or more planar bridge portions or linkspans, providing a runway for use by fixed wing aircraft and helidecks for use by helicopters. Onboard the floating flight deck are facilities to handle the above mentioned aircraft and passengers, freight. etc. It is capable of operating as a self contained and self supported airport or aerodrome with the usual associated support services. The floating flight deck is capable of keeping station near a particular location such as, but not necessarily restricted to, oil platforms by means of propulsion, anchors or other moorings. <IMAGE>

Description

FLOATING FLIGHT DECK The present invention relates to a mobile floating flight deck for aircraft capable of short take-off and landing (STOL) for deployment close to oil fields.

Oil rigs used for exploration, development and production of oil fields, for example in the North Sea, are manned by crews which require to be changed on a regular basis, such as every two or three weeks. Crew changes are normally carried out using helicopters, but the helicopter journey from the rig to the shore is hazardous, partly due to treacherous weather conditions and partly due to the inherent low safety factor of helicopter travel. It is therefore desirable to minimise the length of time each passenger spends in the helicopter. Moreover, many helicopters currently in use are of an old design and there is a general shortage of long range helicopters.

There is therefore a need for a safer and more convenient way of ferrying personnel out to distant oil rigs.

According to the present invention, it is proposed to provide a mobile floating flight deck capable of handling STOL aircraft at or near an oil field or oil fields. This is a practical proposition, particularly since oil fields tend to be grouped together so that a single flight deck could service a cluster of oil fields. In this way, a long and potentially hazardous helicopter flight from the mainland to each individual rig would be replaced by a relatively safe aircraft flight to the floating flight deck followed by a short local helicopter service to the individual oil rigs and platforms. However, the construction of a purpose built flight deck capable of withstanding the severe weather conditions encountered, particularly in the North Sea, would be prohibitively expensive.

The present invention is based on the realisation that there are currently a number of obsolete and largely redundant oil rigs, which could be joined together to form a runway long enough to handle a variety of available STOL aircraft.

Thus, the present invention provides a mobile floating flight deck for aircraft capable of short take-off and landing (STOL) for deployment close to oil fields which comprises; - first and second floating oil rigs connected together, each rig having a planar upper deck; and - a planar bridge portion interconnecting the upper decks so as to provide a runway capable of handling STOL aircraft.

The oil rigs could be connected together either rigidly or in a flexible manner, so as to accommodate the stresses set up, using known technology. Preferably, the oil rigs are of the same type and of the same height to facilitate their interconnection. Using currently available oil rigs, it should in this way be possible to provide a runway of around SOO to 1200 feet i.e. nominally 1,000 feet long, without the use of unduly long bridge portions. A longer runway could be provided by interconnecting three rigs. The bridge portion should be sufficiently flexible to accommodate the normal largely independent movements of the two oil rigs during most weather conditions, when joined together in a flexible manner.

In addition to the equipment normally encountered on oil rigs, the flight deck of the present invention would normally also include suitable air traffic control and approach facilities and would have refueling facilities capable of dealing with a number of STOL aircraft.

Whilst the flight deck is mobile, it would normally be anchored for use. Currently, rigs have eight anchors each. A preferred method of mooring would be to connect the forward two anchors of an end rig to a pile in the seabed to provide a single-point anchorage. This allows the flight deck to be head into the wind for most of the time, thus facilitating take off and landing of the aircraft.

In addition, a number of helidecks would usually be provided, for example four to eight helidecks, preferably at a level below the runway level. Hanger facilities are preferably provided for the helicopters.

Below the runway, usually at the helideck level, would usually be provided Departure/Arrivals Lounges, accommodation, cafeteria and recreational facilities, a power house, stores, cranes, a freight area and lifeboats.

For conventional use, oilrigs include bulk tanks for holding oil, drilling mud etc., which would be converted to provide offshore workshops and local stores for servicing the cluster of oil fields. Alternatively, the tanks could be used for centralised storage of drilling fluids, fuel, water etc. for the cluster of oil fields.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the attached drawing wherein; Figure 1 shows a mobile floating flight deck according to the present invention formed from two connected oil rigst and Figure 2 shows the existing deck layout of one of the oil rigs prior to conversion.

Figure 1 shows first and second floating oil rigs (indicated in dotted lines) connected by a planar bridge portion ("link span") so as to provide a runway shown in cross-hatching. Adjacent the runway are four aircraft standing areas indicated in broken lines. The remaining areas indicated are below the runway (i.e. the flight deck) level, including helidecks H1 to H6. The functions of the various areas are indicated in the figures.

The length of the runway is approximately 1,000 feet and this is capable of handling five or six types of currently available aircraft, each capable of carrying at least 19 passengers which is the maximum capacity of the currently used Sikorsky 61N helicopter.

The rigs have a draft of about 75 feet, which provides a more stable runway than could be provided by, for example, a conventional aircraft carrier construction.

Claims

1) A floating flight deck comprising of two or more former oil rigs joined in a fixed or flexible manner by linkspan or linkspans, providing a runway for use by fixed wing aircraft and helidecks for use by helicopters.

2) A floating flight deck as claimed in Claim 1 wherein facilities to handle the above aircraft and passengers, freight, etc. are provided.

3) A floating flight deck as claimed in Claim 1 and/or Claim 2 whereon can be landed fixed wing aircraft possibly of STOL, V-STOL or vertical take off aircraft of winged variety.

4) A floating flight deck as claimed in all the above claims and capable of operating as a self contained and self supported offshore airport or aerodrome with the usual associated support services.

5) A floating flight deck as claimed in the above preceding claims which is capable of keeping station near oil platforms by propulsion, anchors or moorings.

6) A floating flight deck substantially as described within the enclosed document and with particular reference to the figures 1 and 2.