GB377237A - Improvements in aircraft - Google Patents

Abstract

377,237. Supporting and propelling aircraft. MAcCASKIE, T. M., 6735, St. Lawrence Avenue, Chicago, U.S.A. April 22, 1931, No. 11978. [Class 4.] An aircraft is propelled and in some cases supported by forcing air through a tube or tubes having a restricted passage near both ends, by means of a propeller arranged in one of the restricted passages. Alternatively a propeller on an axis at right-angles to the tube axis may be arranged in a tube having a restricted passage at one end. Fig. 1 shows an aeroplane having a tube 10 built into the fuselage, the forward end of the tube being outwardly flared in front of a constriction 12 and the rear end flared aft of a restricted passage 17. Between the constrictions 12, 17 is an enlarged portion 16 of greater diameter than the rest of the tube. Mounted near the constriction 12 is a fan 13 on a vertical axis driven by an electromotor or an internal-combustion engine 14 placed outside the tube. The fan which may have a heavy strengthening plate on its blades acts as a gyroscopic stabilizer for the machine. From the middle of the part 16 to the rear end the tube is rifled or provided with helical vanes 19 to produce a rotary discharge of air. The exhaust gases from the engine may assist this discharge. Fig. 3 shows a modification wherein the air is forced through the tube by a propeller 13 arranged at the constriction 12 and driven by an electromotor 14 supported by helical blades 15. Four similar tubes set vertically as shown may be provided for lifting the machine vertically. The electromotors may also be supplied from a generator 32 driven by an engine 33. Instead of a single tube in the fuselage a series of smaller similar tubes may be secured beneath the main plane.