1343. Flatbed – The Universal Transport Airplane

Paper

Abstract

Flatbed is a Lockheed-Georgia derived configurational concept featuring a wide variety of payloads, which are carried on an open cargo floor. Flatbed can haul containers, passengers in a removable module, cargo or vehicles. Large vehicles and similar outsized payloads are carried in the open. This aircraft offers the potential to reduce costs, provide a solution to the CRAF problem, and reduce the number of different airplane types now required by differing payloads. A Lockheed proprietary concept, Flatbed consists of a basic structure containing the cockpit, wings, engines and empennage. An open, flat section on which the payload is placed connects the cockpit and empennage portions. The payload thus forms, in most cases, the fuselage shape.