Maritime Applications If Skyhook were strictly limited to maritime applications, however, the limitation would not be particularly restrictive, since some 2/3 of the Earth's surface is covered by water - and Skyhook's possibilities for maritime applications are virtually unlimited - especially with appreciation of its wide-ranging versatility. Skyhook is eminently suited for offshore operations, including transfers-at-sea, and port loading/unloading operations - which may be particularly advantageous wherever there may be undeveloped, or unusable port facilities (such as in war-time venues, where there are mined harbors). It is especially useful in venues both maritime and mountainous (such as Norway, or Montserrat). With its 30,000-lb payload, Skyhook could be used in placing entire pre-fabricated (i.e., steel) buildings in particularly difficult sitings. In fact, in venues where drop-safety is not a factor, Skyhook is useful for a wide variety of off-shore operations, which may include ferrying cargo and equipment over bodies of water for the construction of bridges and offshore oil rigs. It is possible for Skyhook vehicles to carry out freight shipments by air over coastal waters within the 3-mi limit, or over intercoastal waterways. As a freight vehicle, Skyhook achieves the desirable objective of noise abatement by operating at low altitudes, from airfields located at some distance from metropolitan areas. In fact, Skyhook may best operate from a conventional seaplane base (being remotely-piloted and unmanned, Skyhook does not have the requirement of being operated at helicopter-safe altitudes of 1000 feet or more, or at speeds which permit a helicopter-recovery technique called "auto-rotation"). There is some interest in building a ridge across the Bering Strait, to connect the North American and European continents, between the Siberian peninsula and Alaska. Engineers who propose the bridge project (and the extensions of existing highways and railroads) are preparing themselves to face obstacles from a number of fairly-daunting limiting factors. Construction equipment for the project must be capable of heavy-lifting, and operating in extreme cold. Floating construction cranes may be used, but these Ship-based vessels must be quite large and self-sufficient, because adequate port facilities exist nowhere in the region. Cranes of this type are often inordinately large, and yet must be constructed in naval shipyards, then towed across many thousands of miles to the construction site. Once there, the equipment is committed in place, for the project duration. The Bering Strait Bridge is a viable dream. It is a great dream, but worthy of serious consideration, notwithstanding the enormous probable cost of its construction. Still, the project may be yet more viable, if Skyhook could contribute to reduce the overall cost of its construction. Many of the problems expected on the project are the kind that could be overcome by skyhook, and for any function where skyhook could be employed, it may well offer the least-cost alternative. Skyhook handles extremes of temperature, and has no crew (nor need for crew safety systems required for manned-vehicles). Lifts from floating cranes could be augmented, and the cranes re-supplied by air operations using skyhook. Should the highways and railways be completed before the bridge is done, Skyhook could be used for shore to shore railcar shuttling operations. next page back home