US1237364A - Flying-machine. - Google Patents

Description

I H. MILLER FLYING MACHINE;

- APPLICATION LED JUNE 10' I914 RENEWED MAY 10. I9l7- 1,237,364. w Patented Aug. 21, 1917;

5 SHEET-SHEET I.-

- H. MILLER.

FLYJNG MACHINE APPLICATION men JUNE r0. m4. RENEWED an 10. m1.

Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

H. MILLER.

FLYING MACHINE- APPLICATION FILED IUNE 10, 1914. RENEWED MAY 10.1911.

Patented Au III/11A VII/I H. MILLER.

FLYING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, I914. RENEWED MAY 10 I911.

Patented Aug. 21-, 1917.

Q 5 MEETS-SHEET 4. i

H. MILLER.

FLHNG MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10. m4. RENEWED MAY w. 1911.

1,237,364. mama Aug. 21,1917.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

E, I frzze n22??- 64 24% UNIT D srATEs PATENT carr er.

HEN'RY IiITLLEB, F GICEBO, ILLINOIS.

FLYING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug. 21,1917;

Application filed June 10, 1914, Serial No. 844,337. Renewed May 10, 1917. Serial No. 167,806.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY -MILLE'R, a citizen of the United States, residing in Cicero, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flying-Machines, of.

which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to that class I of machines for navigating the air, thatare heavier than air and depend for their 211- titudinal positions (or resistance to the force of gravity) upon the action of the air upon an air plane or its equivalent, as

the machine is propelled through, the air.

Stated in general terms the object of the invention may be said to be the improving of flying machines of, this type,.and stated more particularly theobject of the invention is the improving of various features or nism; the propelling mechanism, the -stabilizing mechanism and other features.

Still more particularly stated one 'of the specific objects of the invention is tofcompletely inclose the framework and operating parts of the machine by a sheathing so shaped and arranged that it forms in and of itself an air plane, of sufficient horizontal extent to cooperate with the air during the forward propulsion of the ma-, chine and control its'altitudinal course, subject, of course, to the steering mechanism. As to this particular feature of the invention I admit knowledge of heretofore existing flying machines of the type lighter than air and known as dirigible balloons or air ships, in which the sheathing of the balloon proper or the gas bag is arranged over and incloses a supporting frame, but this is not the equivalent of this instant feature of my present invention, which resides in a sheathing inclosing practically all parts of the frame and operating mechanism of the machine and shaped to form an airplane (functionally) adapted to do the wor of the more strictly called air plane of machines known as aeroplanes, in which the air planes are located in planes above; the normal horizontal level of the operating mechanism, and are of comparatively vast extent laterally with respect to the line of travel. N This comparatively vast lateral extent of the air planes has heretofore been (subject, of course, to the manual control of the-steering mechanism) but according to the present invention the air plane is of greater longitudinal (the term longitudinal being here used with relationto the line of travel) than lateral extent, (an advantage of which'is that it offers less resistancev to the forward progress ofthe machine) and the poise of the machine upon an even-keel is accomplished automatically by mecha ,nism which is herein called stabilizer:

The stabilizer has a gravitatingweight so.

' arranged that when the machine lists to one side or the other it (the weight) will automatically. condition to operate mechanism that will counteract the listing tendency and hold the machine to an evenkeel (again subject however to the manual operation of the steering mechanism).

Aeroplanes (and the present invention may be said to relate to machines of this general class, although it is believed tobe peculiar unto itself) are usually steered by warping the planes.

Another object of my invention is to provide what I believe to' be an improved, method of steering themachine, and, of

air planes or by auxiliary course, mechanism for practically carrying 4 this improved method into effect. To this end'this specific object of the invention may be said to be the provision of means for steering the machine by discharging a current of air in such a direction that when it'comes-into contact with the surrounding atmosphere through which the. machine is passing, it will react upon that portion of the machine from which it is discharged in such manner that it will tend to move the aforesaid portion of the machine in such direction that the machine will take the course appropriate to the. manually set position of steering mechanism.

vloo

Another specific object of the invention by the operator. The carrying out of this :object, is accomplished by providing a shield, herein called a wind brake under the control of the operator for covering or uncovering as much or as little of the blades of the propeller as he may desire, so that more or less of the propeller, during its rotation, may be exposed to contact with the surrounding atmosphere.

Another specific object of the invention is to provide steering mechanism of such construction that the course of the machine will respond directly to the direction of the movemento'f the hand of the operator in manipulating the steering mechanism; that is to say, when the operator desires the machine to go to the right or left he moves his hand and the steering lever which it grasps to the right or left, as the case may be, and, similarly, when he desires the machine to go up or down, he moves his hand, and the steering lever which it grasps up or down, as the case may be. This mayor may not involve a crossing or reversal in the movement of some part or parts of the steering mechanism.

Here it may be stated, that I believe myself to be the first to provide means of any form or construction for the accomplishing of the objects above briefly enumerated, and it is manifest that means of different construction, adapted to accomplish these same objects, will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art towhich the various parts of the machine, which forms the subject of the present application, relate and I therefore desire to have it understood that, excepting as hereinafter specifically pointed out or claimed, my invention is not limited to mechanism of the precise construction shown in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter particularly described.

With this understood and with above named and other objects in view, I here declare the present invention to consist in the various features of novelty thatare here inafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which. are hereby made a part of this specification, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a flying machine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a view thereof partly in longitudinal section and partly in side elevation,

the plane of the section being more or less irre ular with aview to clearness and brevity in showing the relation of the parts.

Fig. 3 is a view thereof partly in front elevation and partlyin vertical transverse section, the plane of the section in this view also being more or less irregular, for a like reason.

Fig. 4. is a view which is largely idealistic but intended to indicate, from-in front of the machine, the courses of the various air passages of the steering mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a view thereof, mostly in plan but partly in horizontal section, again on an irregular planeor, more accurately speaking, upon diflerent planes, this difference being resorted to for the sake of brevity and clearness of representation.

Fig. 6 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section of the immediately manually controllable devices of the steering mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the same mechanism.

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the principal parts of the mechanism of the device that has hereinbefore been called the stabilizer.

Fig. 9 is a plan View which, so far as it goes, is similar to Fig. 5, but which shows more particularly, on a larger scale the details in construction of the steering mechanism of that form which is elected as preferred for the purposes of this application.

Figs. 9 and 9 are, respectively, a longitudinal and a transverse section showing details hereinafter described.

Fig. 10 is a view partly in plan and partly I in horizontal similar to Fig. 9, but showing a modification in some parts of the steering mechanism.

Fig. 11 "is a view of some portions thereof, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section.

Fig. 12 is a plan view of the parts in the immediate vicinity of the operators seat.

' Fig. 13 is a section on the'line 13-43, Fig. 5, showing on a larger scale a detail in the construction of what may appropriately be called a wind brake, for regulating the extent of contactof the propeller with the surrounding atmosphere.

Fig. 14 is a side elevation of details in the hand mechanism for controlling the positions of the wind brakes.

Fig. 15 is a horizontal section on a still larger scale of a portion of the rear end of the machine, showing particularly the valvemechanism for controlling the horizontal discharge of the air.

Fig. 16 is a side elevation viewed in the direction of the arrow, 16, Fig. 15.

Fig. 17 is a rear elevation thereof viewed in the direction of the arrow, 17, Fig. 15.

The machine has a suitable frame, the several parts of which wherever they appear in the several figures of the drawings are designated by the numeral, 1, excepting when it becomes necessary for the sake of accuracy and precision to otherwise designate them by the addition of an exponent to the numeral. This frame supports, or has attache to it, all of the propelling and steering m anism of the machine and the entire frame and practically all of said mechanism is inclosed by,,a sheathing, 2,

which, regard being had for the necessary internal space for the accommodation of the working parts and the seat, 3, for the operator is so shaped that it forms an air plane of very much greater longitudinal than latwardly and downwardly respectively, and

its continuation-flue or passage 17 corresponding with the continuation-flue or 1333-.

sage, of the valve casing, l4, is unvalved and'opens directly to the atmosphere at the rear end of the machine.

Within the valve casing, 1 1, is a butterfly valve, 18, which normally occupies a hori zontal plane that is central longitudinally with respect to the machine andto the natural course of the combined volumes of air passing rearward through the flues or passages, 12 and 12 and the continuation fine, 15*. While this valve occupies this position the aforesaid current of air, upon reaching the valve casing, 1 1, will not be deflected from its natural course either one way or. another. Consequently, while a por tion of the air may escape through the horizontally disposed lateral branches, 15 and 15, the major portion of it will pass on to and through the continuation-flue or passage, 15,

and into the casing, 16. Upon reaching the interior of the casing, 16, in which is arranged a similar butterfly valve, 19, which normally occupies a vertical plane of the axis of the continuation-flue, 15, the air will escape through the flue, 17* and out to the atmosphere at the rear end of the machine, without any tendency to exert a lateral pressure upon the rear end of the machine in one direction or another.

Thus it will be seen that so long as the butterfly valves, 18 and 19, occupy their normal central positions as above described the force resulting from the discharge 0% divided portions of the entire volume of air. passing rearward through the flues or assage, 12 and 12, will be balanced against each other without any tendency to disturb the course of the machine through the air. On the other hand if the position of either of the butterfly valves is changed so that it' deflects the whole or a part of the volume of air laterall with respect tothe machine in one direction rather than the opposite direction, the result will be a corresponding lateral pressure upon the rear end of the machine which will tend to alter its longitudinal position as it passes through the air and thereby change its course. To be more specific, if the butterfly valve, 18, be placed in the position indicated bydotted lines itwill intercept the entire volume of air entering the casing, 14:, through its inlet opening 12 and compel it to escape through the lateral branch flue, 15, which opensat the right hand side of the machine, atthe same time preventing any part of sald volume of air from escaping through either of the 'outlet openings, 14? or 1 1. The air from the branch flue, 15, and impinging against the surrounding atmosphere will re-] act against the rear side of the machine with a tendency to force its rear end horizontally to the left and thereby correspondingly direct its forward end or prow to the right. In this way the horizontal course of the machine may be controlled by the operator without in any way changing its altitudinal course. valve, 18, is allowed to remain in its normal position as shown by full lines the altitudinal course of the machine may be controlled by the operator by similarly operating thebutterfly valve, 19. If this valve be placed in the position indicated by dotted lines the entire volume of air entering the valve casing, 16, through its inlet opening, 16", will be deflected so that it will escape upward through the vertical branch flue, 17, with the result that a downward pressure will be exerted upon the rear end of the machine, tending to On the other hand if the butterfly give the entire machine an upwardandforward inclination, which will cause "it to rise.

Similarly, when he desires to direct the course of the machine to the left he moves his hand toward the-left and the same'is true when he desires to go either upward or downward. To these ends the hand lever,

20, is fulcrumed as at 21, between ears or lugs, 22, carried by a cylindrical fitting, 23,

i which is, for the most part, tubular. This fitting is maintained in a vertical position so as to be capable of moving both longitudinally,. up and down, and rotatively about its axis, by suitable brackets, 24:, that are supported by suitable parts of the frame, 1. The tubular upper portion of the fitting, 23, has diametrically opposite longltudinal slots, 25, through which the lever, 20, passes and the lower end of the-fitting carries a cross arm, 26, the branches of which are con neoted by slender rods, wires, cables, or other suitable devices, 27- and 27?, respectively, with the opposite ends of a cross lever, 28, that is secured, non-rotatively to the shaft of the valve, 18. With this arrangement it will be observed that when the lever, 20, is. moved toward the right it will rotate the fitting, 23, counterclock-wise as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 7. This will draw the connection, 27, forward and this 1n turn will move the valve, 18, to or toward menace the machine, converting this air pressure to the purposes of uplifting or upholding the machine, and otherwise facilitating the travel of the machine through the air, as by preventing the direct impingement of the" air against the many parts of the mechanism whereby it would be broken upinto a multitude of currents and countercurrents moving in incalculable directions. So much for the sheathing, but be it remembered that it is extended longitudinally rather than laterally in order to give it the necessary superficial area to perform the functions of an air plane. The mechanism of the machine is so disposed upon opposite sides of its longitudinal center that it is nor mally balanced, so that it will travel on an even-keel, but'in order to maintain this balanc'e the present invention contemplates the provision of what has been hereinbefore called a stabilizer, the object of which is to counteract the effects of air currents that im. pinge against the machine with a tendency to throw it off of an even-keel. This stabilizer has a gravitating weight, 4, which depends from a suitably arranged support, 5, which latter may take the form of a shaft suitably supported by the frame of'the machine, so that the-weight, 4, will, of course, naturally and automatically tend to a pendent vertical position below its support. As shown, the weight, 4, has a vertical arm, 6, and two laterally disposed arms, 7 and 7, which, of course, respond to the variations in the position of the weight and control valves which later in turn, control the direction of the discharge of the stabilizing currents of air. The stabilizing of the machine involves the use of air ducts or passages, 8 and 8, both of which open at their forward ends at the prow or forward end of the machine and at their rear ends are deflected and open laterally, at the opposite sides of the machine as at 8* and 8. When the machine is travellng upon an even-keel the a1r will enter the forward ends of the tubes, 8

.and 8, and escape from their rear ends, 8? and 8, laterally, without any tendency to change the altitudinal course of the machine, but when the weight,.4, of the stabilizer swings in one direction'or the other, rela tively to its support, 5, in response to .a'

canting of the machine in one direction or the other from an even-keel position, the

upwardly through one or the other of branches, 10 or 10*, ofv the tubes and downward through one or the other branches, 11

or 11 of said tubes. To be more specific, if the machine cants from an even-keel in a direction which lowers its right-hand side, being the 'side on which the tube, 8, is located, the relative movement of the weight, 4, will naturally be toward that same side relatively and this movement of the weight will so operate the valves, 9 and 9*, that they will deflect the course of the air passing through the tubes, 8 and 8 and cause it to be discharged downward through the branch, 11, on the right-hand side of the machine, and upward through the branch, 10, on the left-ha'ndside of the machine, thus tending to produce upon opposite sides of the machine forces that act in opposition to the force tending to disturb the evenkeel poise of the machine. It will be understood that the valves, 9 and 9 are of that class known as butterfly three-way valves and their connections with the weight, 4, of the stabilizer are such that they Wlll be operated or moved simultaneously, but at the same time reciprocally in opposite directions, so that when one is moved .to deflect the current of air downward, the other will be-correspondingly moved to deflect its current of air upward.

In like manner the steering of the machine involves the use of two air passages, or flues, 12 and 12?, which may be of any desired construction and which at their forward ends, open at the prow of the machine while at their rear ends, converge in the modified form of the invention shown in Figs. 10 and 11 and come together in a V-shaped fitting, 13, which at its rear end communicates with the interior of a valve casing, 14, WlllCh latter is circular or of drum-shape. With this arrangement the entire volume of air passing through the air passages or flues, 12 and 12*, will enter the casing, 14, which has three outlets for.the air, 14 14 and 14, respectively and located at positions 90 degrees removed from each other, the outlet opening, 14 being diametrically opposite the inlet opening, 12", which is common to the flues or passages, 12 and 12 Communicating with the outlet openings, 14 and 14, are

ation common to both of the flues or pasthe position indicated by dotted lines, with the result that the combined volume of air passing rearward through the passage, 12 and 12, will be discharged through the branch, 15, escaping at the right hand side of the. machine, with the result already described. Naturally a movement of the hand lever, 20, in the opposite direction will produce the opposite of these results.

Within the upper tubular portion "of the fitting, 23, the hand lever, 20, is fulcrumed as at 28, to the split orbifurcated upper end of a block, or piece, 29, to which is attached by any suitable means a ball, 30, which forms one member of a ball-andsocket joint, the socket member of which is formed at the upper end of a rod, 31, which fits within the bore of the fitting, 23, in such manner" that the rod, 31, is capable of free up and down movement. Thelower end of this rod is connected through the medium of a link, 32, with the radial arm, 33, of a bell crank lever, 33, which latter is fulcrumed as at, 34, to a suitable part of the frame of the machine. The remaining branches. of this bell-crank lever are connected with theforward endsof cords, wires, chains, cables, or other suitable connecting devices, 36 and 36, the rear ends of which are connected to the opposite ends of a branch lever, 37, nonrotatively secured to the shaft of the valve,

19. With this arrangement it will be seen that an upward movement of the hand lever, 20, will cause the bell-crank lever, 33, to

n move counterclock-wise about its pivotal support as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 6, and this in turn will draw the connection, 36, forward and cause it in turn to move the valve, 19, to or toward the position indicated by dotted lines, with the results already described.

In the modified form of the steering mechanism shown in Figs- 10 and 11, the two longitudinal air passages or, flues are brought together, as already described, in a common V-shaped, fitting, 13, and while this form of the invention is believed to be wholly practicable, it is conceivable that the combining of the horizontal and latitudinal air fiues or passages in the manner described may not, under some conditions, be altogether satisfactory, and hence in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4: and 5 I have shown an arrangement Which makes the steering in one direction wholly independent of the steering in the other direction. In these figures the two longitudinal air fiues or passages, 12 and 12*, are kept wholly independent of each other, throughout, and as shown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 5, the horizontal-discharge branches, 15 and 15 are in like mannor functionally separate and independent of each other. These horizontal lateral branches form continuations of one of the longitudinal tubes or passages (say the tube,

12) and these branchesare under the con- 4 trol of a butterfly valve, 18, which is constructed and operates precisely as does the butterfly valve, 18, already described with' relation to Figs. 10 and 11. In like manner the longitudinal tube or passage, 12*, has

scribed and are operated by a lever-control device like that shown in detail in Fig, 6 and shown on a small scale at 23 in Figs. 2, 5 and 12. v

The power for propelling the machineis preferably derived from two separate engines, 39 and 40, preferably of the internal combustion or explosion type, which, of course, should be of practically equal weight and arrangedrqual distances upon opposite sides of the median longitudinal center of the machine in order to properly balance it. These engines exert their power directly upon a transverse shaft, 41, which in turn is connected by any suitable-gearing with the vertical shafts, 4:2, of propeller blades, 43,- which in the-instance given in the drawings have radial paddle blades, but here I desire to have it understood that my invention in its broadest aspect is not limited to propeller blades of this or any other specific type, the type shown being simply illustrative of what, for the purposes of this application, I elect as preferable. Of course, the effect of these propeller blades will depend upon the extent to which they come in contact with the atmosphere through which the machine is passing, and hence by controlling the extent of this contact the effectiveness of the blades may be regulated. I have, therefore provided what'is herein called a wind brake, 14:, for each of the blades, this wind brake bein a. part under the control of the operator y which a greater or less proportion of the propeller blades may be exposed to or concealed fromcontact with the surrounding atmosphere. Fig. 13 shows a detail in the construction of one of these wind brakes. Of course, it will be understood that as the propeller blade revolves it will have a tendency to createa pressure within the drum, or casing, 45, in which it revolves and this pressure will have a corresponding tendency to force the wind brake out of place. In order to prevent thls the wind brake is provided with lugs or flanges,

4.-6, which occupy corresponding grooves near the outer margin of the propeller blade casing, 45. The'wind brakes have attached to them operating rods, 47, which in turn are jointed to the ends of slide rods, 48, mounted to slide in suitably supported bearings, 49, these bearings being in turn supported by some suitable part of the frame. This slide rod passes loosely through a slot in the collar, 50, and the' collar itself is hinge-jointed, as at 51, to a lever arm, 52, secured to a shaft, 53, which carries a worm wheel, 54, meshing with a corresponding worm, 55, secured to a shaft, 56, having a hand-Wheel, 57, located within convenient reach of the operator, the construction and arrangement of this operating mechanism being such that when the hand-wheel, 57,

. is'turned, the wind'brakes will be simultan'eously moved through corresponding distances whereby their efi'ectiveness in covering and uncovering'the propeller blades is equalized.

In addition to the automatic operation of I the stabilizer, it is also under the control of the operator, to which end the weight, 4,

is jointed to one end of a link, 58, the other end of which is jointed to an arm 59 projecting from a shaft, 60, to which is non-' rotatively secured a hand-lever, 61, located within convenient reach of the operator.

It has already been stated that the sheathing, 2, of the machine practically incloses all parts of the mechanism, including the operators seat, 3. It is, of course, necessary that provision be made for the operator to observe his course and to this end look-out windows, 62, may be placed wherever convenient or desirable.

The discharge ofair in one direction through 'one' of the lateral branches of the air tubes or passages, will have a tendency to create a vacuumor a current of air in the opposits direction through a communicating lateral branch and this would interfere with the proper operation of the steering mechanism, unless it; be prevented. In order to prevent it each of the lateral branches is provided with a. cover which is operated simultaneously with and by the same'mecha-' nism as the butterfly valves are and as all of these-covers are similar and are operated by similar mechanism a description of but one will suflice for the purposes of this application.

Hence covers, 63 and 63", are rovided for the horizontal branches, 15 an 15". .Each of these covers is jointed to one end of a rod, 67, having an enlarged piston-like head,

68, which slidably fits in a guide way, 69,

supported by a bracket, 70, which, in turn, is suitably connected with the frame of the machine. The head, 68, is cylindrical in cross sectlon and the guideway, 69, is of similar cross sectional shape and embraces something more than 180 degrees ofa circle, so that the piston head is prevented from d splacement from the guideway,

the cover,

a frame,

while at the same time it is permitted to slide freely therein. -Slidably mounted upon each of the rods, 67, is a ring; or collar, 66, carrying oppositely presented studs, or pins, 65, upon which is mounted the bifurcated end of a link, 64, the other end of which is pivotally connected to one end.of the lever, 28. Within the guideway, 69, is a spring, 73, which exerts a constant pressure upon the head, 68, with a tendency to close 63, (or 63") as the case may be. Beyond the travel ofthe pins, 66, the guideway is a complete tube, as shown at 71, while that portion of it which is traversed bythe pins, 66, may be either slotted for the passage of said pins,

urally impart to the covers, 63. and 63", an

excess of movement and it is in order to compensate for this that the sleeves, or collars, 66, are slidably mounted upon the rods, 67 In the construction shown and de scribed, the springs, 69*, will have a normal or as above suggested, may be entirely cut away to the extent oftendency to move the covers, 63 and 63", in

position to close the lateral branches, 15 and 15", the movement of the covers being arrested by stops, 63, which are in the form of cross bars, or strips, which enter into the construction of the guiding frame, 63, in which the cover, 63 or 631, is mounted to slide. v

Upon reference to Fig. 15 it will be seen that a pull upon the rod, or cord, 27, in the direction of the arrow, will shift the position of the lever, 28, and during the first part of the movement of this lever, the collar, 66, will slide upon the rod, 67. When the collar, 66, comes in contact with-the enlarged ,head, 68, the rod will be moved endwise inthe direction of the arrow, thereby uncovering the lateral branch, 15, and moving 'the' parts to positions corresponding with the positions of similar parts accessory to the valve, 63, as these accessory parts are shown in the lower portion of Fig. 15.

What I claim as new is:

1. A flying machine having a suitable an air plane and means for propelling the air plane through the atmosphere, in combination with steering mechanism, said steering mechanism having unobstructed'airtubes or passages the forward ends of which are open for the admission of atmospheric air and the rear ends of" which are presented laterally and are open for the escape of said air and are presented horizontally in opposite directions, and also vertically, upwardly .and downwardly, whereby the'air discharged from said tubes or passages impinges against the surrounding a frame, an air plane and means for pro-' atmosphere and re-actslaterally upon the machine and controls its course.

2. A flying machine having a suitable pelling the air plane through the atmosphere in combination with steering mechanism having an air tube or passage disposed longitudinally relatively to the machine and terminating at its rear end in lateral branches having discharge ends presented horizontally and a second air tube disposed V. longitudinally relatively to the machine and having at its rear end lateral branches presented upwardly and downwardly, valves located at the intersection of the lateral branches of both of the aforesaid longitudinally disposed air tubes or passages for controlling the direction of the passage of air through them, and means under the control of the operator for-controlling said valves.

3. A flying machine having steering mechanism for controlling the course of the ma chine through the atmosphere, said steering mechanism having a lever under the control of the operator and movable laterally both horizontally and vertically forcontrolling the course of the machine both horizontally and altitudinally, in combination with means for transmitting movement from said lever to the means for controlling the horizontal course of the machine, said means having a rotatable shaft to which said lever is jointed and a cross arm carried by said shaft and means for transmitting movement from said lever to the mechanism for controlling the altitudin-al course of the machine, said means including the shaft aforesaid, which is also capable of longitudinal movement and a T-shaped lever with the central arm of which said shaft has jointed connection.- 7 4. A steering mechanism having in combination a tubular fitting, means for sup porting it so that itmay. be rotated, a lever fulcrumed to said fitting, a rod jointed to said lever and caipable of moving endwise' relatively to said tting, a cross arm carried by: said fitting, tensileconnections extending from the extremities of said cross arm to the valve to'be manipulated, a T-shaped bell-crank lever, the central arm of which is jointed to said tensile devices and extending to the valv to be operated.

. 5. A flying machine having air tubes or passages disposed longitudinally thereof and open-at their forward and rear ends for the admission and escape of air as the machine progresses in combination with a stabilizer having a pendent weight and means operated by the movement of the weight relatively to the machine for directing air currents escaping from said air tubes or pas- "sages .in such directions that they will impinge against the surrounding atmosphere and react against the machine in such manner as to control its position. I

6. A flying machine having a suitable frame, an air plane, and means for propelling the air plane through the atmosphere, in combination with steering mechanism having air tubes or passages provided with discharge ends presented laterally relatively to the course of the machine, valves for controlling the flow of air through the lateral branches of the air tubes, and covers for connections between said weight and valves,

whereby the position of the weight relatively to the machine determines the positionof the valve. 4 I

HENRY MILLER. Witnesses:

L. M. HOPKINS,

.LILLIAN KINNUcAN.

Images