GB703067A - Improvements in or relating to fluid reaction flying controls for aircraft - Google Patents

Abstract

703,067. Controlling aircraft. NATIONAL RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION. July 31, 1951 [June 9, 1950], No. 14392/50. Class 4 An aircraft flying control system comprises a duct which connects an outlet opening at the surface of an aerofoil with a forwardly directed intake which opens at or in advance of the leading edge part of the aerofoil so that air entering the intake in consequence of forward motion ot the aircraft issues trom the outlet and so produces a control force. In Fig. 6, the wing 50 comprises a pair of ducts 51, 52 which terminate in intake apertures in the wing leading edge and outlet apertures in the upper and lower surfaces. The intake apertures have pivoted closures 53, 54 and the outlet apertures sliding closures 55, 56. A mechanism for opening the closures, described for the duct 52 but applicable to both ducts, comprises a three-arm lever 57 fulcrumed about a vertical pivot 58 and having two opposed arms. connected by links 59, 60 with the intake and outlet closures 54, 56 respectively. A spring 61 holds both closures shut and an arm 63 on the three-arm lever is connected to an operating rod 62 which terminates adjacent a lever 64 mounted on a pivot 65 and connected by links 66, 68 and a pivoted lever 67 to a pilot's control column 69. A pivoted lever 71 having an extremity located in opposition to the end of the link 62, is connected by a rod 70 to the mechanism for operating the closures 53, 55. The closures normally maintain the continuity of the wing surface but lateral movement of the control column 69 in either direction will cause the closures 53, 55 or 54, 56 to open simultaneously to permit a flow of air through the ducts 51 or 52 to create a lateral control force. The ducts may be positioned side by side as shown or one above the other, Fig. 4, (not shown). In Fig. 8, the rear end of the fuselage 88 is surrounded by a cowl 87 having a forwardly directed annular intake and a rearward outlet which carries a closure 91. The ducts 81, 82 in the tail surfaces 89. 90 are connected to outlets 83, 84 and the intakes are closed by sliding closures 92, 93. In normal flight the closures 91, 92, 93 are located in the positions shown by dotted lines but when a controlling force has to be exerted the closure 91 is moved to its full-line position and the appropriate closure 92, 93 opened simultaneously. The outlets 83, 84 may have closures operatively connected with the closure members 91, 92, 93. According to the Provisional Specification, the device may be combined with normal control surfaces and trimming of the aircraft may be effected by displacement of one or more control ducts closures or by means of small auxiliary ducts and a gust detector may be associated with the device in order to increase or decrease the overall lift on a wing.