Helicopter landing pad
A mobile helicopter landing pad comprises a platform with one or more elongate, concave guiding channels for aligning a helicopter on the landing pad by forcing the helicopter's skates into a specific alignment upon landing. The guiding channels may have laterally disposed rollers or else be made of slick material to allow the helicopter to slide towards the base of the guiding channel under the helicopter's own weight. Additional crosswise rollers at the bottom of the guiding channel(s) may be provided to allow the helicopter to be moved forward or backward after landing. A blade locking arm swings upward and secures the top rotor. The pad may include a foldable enclosure that protects the helicopter after landing, and an electronic guidance system that assists the pilot during landing by providing instructions to the pilot or visual indications of the prevailing wind direction and velocity, through illuminated signals on the platform.
1. A helicopter landing pad, comprising:
a platform;
a collapsible housing shell attached to said platform, said collapsible housing shell comprising right and left outer enclosure members, each of said right and left enclosure members comprising a plurality of folding panels configured to unfold from a flattened position to a deployed position to form an enclosure surrounding a helicopter after landing,
wherein, in the deployed position, a top panel of each of the right and left outer enclosure members overlaps a bottom panel of each respective outer enclosure member.
2. The helicopter landing pad of claim 1 , wherein said collapsible housing shell has a dome-shaped cross section.
3. The helicopter landing pad of claim 1 , wherein said collapsible housing shell further comprises a front door and a rear door coupled to said platform, said front door and said rear door movable from an open position to a closed position covering front and rear openings respectively of the folding housing shell.
4. The helicopter landing pad of claim 1 , wherein said platform comprises a rotatable landing platform mounted to a base portion, wherein said collapsible housing shell is attached to said portion.
5. The helicopter landing pad of claim 4 , wherein said rotatable landing platform is motorized.
6. The helicopter landing pad of claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of folding panels from each of the right and left enclosure members are hingedly connected.
7. The helicopter landing pad of claim 1 , wherein the right and left outer enclosure members in the flattened position are configured to slide beneath the platform.
8. The helicopter landing pad of claim 1 , wherein each of the right and left outer enclosure members form complementary half-cylindrical shells in the deployed position.
9. The helicopter landing pad of claim 1 , wherein the top panel of each of the right and left outer enclosure members is hingedly connected to the bottom panel of each respective outer enclosure member by a hinge located along the top edge of the bottom panel and underneath and indented with respect to the inner surface of the top panel.
10. The helicopter landing pad of claim 1 , wherein the right and left outer enclosure members overlap each other in the deployed position.
11. The helicopter landing pad of claim 3 , wherein each of the front door and the rear door are configured with a flexible rubber lip along a periphery edge.
12. The helicopter landing pad of claim 3 , wherein each of the front door and the rear door are configured to latch to the right and left outer enclosure members in the closed position.