Abstract: An upper deck shell is provided on a main deck shell in the aft region of the fuselage (10). In the aft region (18), an upper deck (38) is provided above the main deck (36). Passenger seats (Sm, Su) are provided on both the main deck (36) and the upper deck (38). A transition region (54) is provided in which a stairway (58) is located. The stairway permits passengers and crew to move between the main deck (36) and the upper deck (38).

Abstract: A passive heat transfer system is provided wherein the vapor generated by the boiling of a working fluid is harnessed to transport the working fluid from a heat source to a heat sink below the heat source. A passive circulation unit is installed in a heat transfer system between the outlet port of a heat collector and a collector drain duct that leads to a heat sink that is positioned below the heat collector. In preferred embodiments, a collector feed duct permits fluid to return to the heat collector from the heat sink and a check valve prevents flow in the opposite direction. The passive circulation unit includes an upper chamber and a lower chamber disposed in vertical array, with the lower end of the lower chamber being positioned above the heat collector outlet port. In the simplest embodiment the two chambers are connected by a vent duct that leads from the bottom region of the lower chamber to the top region of the upper chamber.

Abstract: An air transportable cargo loader for an airplane includes a platform body supportively coupled to articulated foldable leg assemblies at its opposite ends. The leg assemblies are independently foldable between extended positions wherein they support the respective ends of the platform at a height sufficient to serve the cargo openings of a commercial transport airplane and retracted positions wherein the leg assemblies are folded compactly against the underside of the platform body for stowage within the airplane. The cargo loader can be deployed from an airplane for loading and unloading operations without any ground-based assistance, and can be likewise loaded aboard and stowed in the airplane without assistance and further can support cargo while so stowed.

Abstract: An elevated deck structure is positionable on the main deck floor in the passenger compartment of a wide-bodied aircraft for providing a mezzanine seating area in the substantially unused upper lobe of the fuselage. A sectioned elongated support wall has a lower portion which is detachably secured to a pair of conventional seat tracks extending longitudinally along the center line of the main deck floor. A plurality of mezzanine floor sections are secured to the top of the support wall and project laterally outward toward the sidewall of the aircraft fuselage. The mezzanine floor is elevated a sufficient distance above the main deck floor to provide passenger seating both in the area under the mezzanine floor on either side of the support wall and on the mezzanine floor itself in the upper lobe of the aircraft.