AMES INDUSTRIAL 'PARLC' (Power-Augmented Ram Landing Craft)

Only photo that was circulated of the PARLC demonstrator.

The PARLC appears on a poster that features many of Rutan's designs with RAF and Ames, which shows that Rutan
himself truly recognizes it as one of his works.

Type: experimental high-speed ship to shore vehicle

Type:  

Program:  

Powerplant: 2 x 900N MicroTurbo turbojets

Significant date: 1980

Built by Ames Industrial for the David Taylor Naval Ship Research and Development Center (DTNSRDC), the Power-Augmented Ram Landing Craft (PARLC) represented a new concept in marine mobility, combining surface effect ship and power-augmented-ram technology into one vehicle.

The concept was formulated early in Fiscal Year 1979, and the test craft was developed and built around 1980 by the DTNSRDC. The PARLC proved to be an attractive surface mobility concept. It was a slender barge with side walls and a movable flap on the back. It was powered by two front mounted MicroTurbo engines of 900N each that provided PAR thrust at all times. First tested in September 1980, the PARLC was capable of transiting a 100-nm distance from ship to shore at speeds in excess of 90 knots.

The PARLC was the scaled down prototype of a craft that was projected to carry 120 tons of military cargo at speeds of around 180 km/h. It was to be powered by a single 747-size CF6 engine. However, the project was cancelled by the Navy for unknown reasons. Rutan's only other known involvement with boats was the wing sail designs for the America's Cup 'Stars & Stripes'.


Population: 1

Specs:
Speed: 90 kt
Range: 100 nm

Crew/passengers: 1

Main sources:

Two artist's views of the much larger production transport boat that was eventually cancelled.

The official patch of the PARLC program.