GB672914A - Improvements in aircraft - Google Patents

Abstract

672,914. Aircraft fuel tanks arranged in folding wings. BLACKBURN & GENERAL AIRCRAFT, Ltd. May 24, 1950 [April 28, 1949], No. 11346/49. Class 4. The wings 5 of an aeroplane are connected to the fuselage by pivots 4 so that they may be swung from a low-speed spread position to a high-speed swept-back position, and fuel tanks 13 are disposed in the leading edges of the wings to accentuate the shift of the centre of gravity upon movement of the wings and thus offset the effect of the shift of the centre of pressure. Front and rear fuselage tanks 10, 11 are connected to the respective wing tanks by conduits 16, 17 and a pressure cylinder 40 forces fuel from the fuselage tanks to the wing tanks and from there to a feed tank 14 through conduits 15, 15<SP>1</SP>. By this arrangement the wing tanks are the last to be emptied. The wings are moved by hydraulic jacks 36 whose supply conduits 55, 56 are connected to a movable cylinder 51 connected at 50 to a supply tank and containing a piston valve 52, 53. The valve is connected to one wing by a bell crank 63 and link 59<SP>1</SP> and the cylinder is similarly connected to the other wing by bell cranks and links 58, 59, 60, 61, so that if one of the wings moves faster than the other, the consequent relative movement of the piston valve and cylinder reduces the supply of liquid to the jack connected to the faster wing and reduces the supply to the other jack. In their spread position the wings are locked by projections 67 and hydraulic plungers 70 on the fuselage engaging openings in the wing leading edges, while in the swept-back position hydraulic plungers 72 engage openings 73 in the trailing edges.