US1545505A - Airplane - Google Patents

Description

July 14, 1925.

G. C. LOENING AIRPLANE 1 B, 31923 .'5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Nov.

' VENTOR E inv@ 51W: ATTORNEY July 14,1925.

G. C. LOENING AIRPLANE Filed NOV 3 sheets-sheet 2 VENTOR BY ATTORNEY July 14, 1925. 1,545,505

I v G. c. LOENING AIRPLANE Filed Nov. a. 1925 5 sheets-sheet s JE/"Lg, 3.

/N VEN TUI? /1 TTOHNEV Patented July 14, 1925A. i

UNITED VSTATES PATENT oFFlcE.

GBOVER C. LOENING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AIRPLANE.

Application led November 8, 1923. Serial No. 673,407.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GRovER C. LOENING,

a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York city, in the county and State cornields, high weeds or other growths, or

l tages both as a on water, and to accomplish this by acombination of parts in an integral designinvolving practically no loss of weight and head resistance over ordinary land planes. The plane herein described, illustrated'and claimed is characterized by these features, and by its relatively low depth of body and consequent low head resistance, and its low and centralized disposition of weight and flotation, and by its ability to land without nosing over and without interference with the propeller. A simple, light, compact,-

and fast-flying airplane, free from the ordinary landing limitations, is thus provided.

The invention resents important advanying-boat and as an amphibian plane. rIhe low center of fin area of flying-boats, ordinarily, due to the fact that the machine skids at the start of a turn in flight, tends to unbank the machine. The high center of gravity, resulting from the usual elevated position of the engine, has the same effect, and the two factors combined make such machines much more ditlicult to handle and maneuver than land planes. In the plan of construction embraced in my invention the center of fin area is further lowered in consequence of the loweringlof the head-resistance, which would tend to increase the unbanking effect; but I also depress the centerof gravity very greatly by inverting the engine so as to hang below the propeller shaft which it drives, this propeller shaft being substantially at the top of a unitary head-resistance body, instead of in an elevated position as ordinarily, and thus I cause the center of gravity and the center of lin area to be substantially coincident or approximate to eachother sothat their effects are neutralized, and by the same plan I secure small control in the air than has heretofore been possible.

-The inversion of the engine also results in improved engine operation.

The provlslonv of a retractible landing gear on the body enables the machine to alight on solid land, as well as on water or in snow or mud. A forward nose extension of the lower or boat portion of the body keeps the machine from nosing over under any landing or alighting conditions, and in the case of a tractor propeller this nose also guards the propeller from spray or vegetation. Attention may also be called to the feature of the combination involving the locatlon of the radiator of the engine cooling system at the lower front portion of the body behind the propeller, where it receives the .propeller draft and effectually cools the eng-lne, particularly when taxying for long distances. y s

In the. accompanying drawings illustrat- 1ng the invention: i

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, showin the landing gear in position for alig ting thereon;

Fig.y 2 is a front elevation on a larger scale, the outer portions of the wings being broken away; and

Fig. 3 is a fro-nt elevation of the body on a still larger scale, showing the landing gear retracted, the upper front portion of the body of the enclosure being broken away and the cover omitted.

The central body of the airplane as a whole is designated 1, and comprises a fuselage with a boat-like lower part 2 havingy a hydroplaning bottom. The lower part preferably has lateral sponson projections 3 beyond the side lines of the upper part, making an apparent demarkatiom'which may or may not be constructional. The vertical members 4, 5, 6, 7 may be considered to be continuous. Functionally, the two parts of the body merge or join as an enclosed headresistance and low iin-area unit, of which the lower portion is'eXtended as a forwardly projecting nose 8, the top of'which is closed and the bottom of which is in upwardly inclined continuation with the boat bottom.

The rear end of the body founded 4upon its hull portionl carries the tail' or empennage 9 with its rudder 10, horizontal stabilizer 11 and vertical stabilizer 12. With respect to its wings, the machine may be monoplane, biplane,etc. Upper and lower .supporting surfaces 13 and 14 are illustrated supported in an ordinary manner from the central body. Lateral pontoons 15 are carried beneath the lower wings.

The top of the structural upper part of the body, at the front end, is provided with an engine-bed 16. This bed, it may be noted, has at its front end a direct vertical support from the foundation, in the posts 4 which rise just within the front of the upper'body portion. The rear end of the bed is supported uppn the posts or bulkhead 5. .An engine 17 mounted on the engine bed drives the tractor propeller 18, which stands in front ofthe upper part of the body, clearing the nose 8, by' which it is guarded from beneath. The engine, instead of being erect, is hung by its crank-case flanges 19 on the engine-bed bearers so that its V- rows of cylinders 20 are contained within the body below the propeller and engine crank shaft 21. Due to this construction, the propeller shaft finds itself substantially at the top" of a relatively low head-resistance body, the furtherhehgght required being merely that of a cover 22. A very large saving in head resistance is thus obtained as compared with overhead or erect mountings of the en ine, and in the case of an engine like the iberty motor I find that improved engine operation results from the inversion, owing to the fact that the lubricating oil which commonly interferes with the ignition is now shed from the sparking points.

The radiator 23 of the engine-coolingsystem is seen located at the front of the upper part of the body, below the propeller shaft and the engine, land directly behind the propeller, where it receives the draft from the outer portions of the blades. The radiator is preferably set back slightly froml the front of the enclosure, which at this region contains a regulatable louvre shutter 24. C'onduits 25, 26 are indicated, to place the radiator in circuit with the water spaces of the engine, but the details of the cooling` system are not necessary to illustrate 'since' such` matters are well understood. The cooling effects obtainable are very advantageous, particularly when 'taxying for long distances on water. In this respect, as is well known, flying boats have been handicapped, because at such low speeds the cooling has been insuflicient to prevent overheating of the engine.

A retractible landin -gear is designated generally 27. The il ustrated gear comprises a pair of wheels 28 mounted rotatably on stubs 29 onthe ends of V-strut axle frames 30, which are hinged to brackets 31 on opposite sides of the-lower part of the body, preferably at the outer corners of the sponsons 3, obtaining a wide wheel-base. The two brackets 31 of each axle frame are members.

spaced lengthwise of the side of the body, and the hinging permits the frames to be swung from the outward projecting positions f Fig. 2, upward and inward to the retracted positions of Fig. 3, where they lie close to the upper slopes of the sponsons, the frames being desirably curved or bent to overhang these portions as shown. In the retracted position the wheels are partly received in pockets 32 in the top of the hull sponsons, the pockets being tightly walled ofll from the interior of the hul The landing-gear is operated and yieldingly sustained in the landing condition by shock-absorbing struts 33, which are pivoted at their outer ends to horns 34 on the axle frames and at their inner ends to nut travelers 35 operatable byA and along screwsV 36 of self-holding pitch. The said screws are mounted in diagonal transverse positions in the hull, their end journal portions supported infixed bearin gs 37, 38, the lowerbearings 37 being adjacent the bottom and the upper bearings 38 being at the corners other gears 40 on a transverse operating shaft 41. This shaft is operated by or under the control of the aviator by suitable connections, for example through a sprocket chain passing from a sprocket wheel 42 on the shaft indicated in Fig. 3.

Each of the struts 33 comprises two relatively slidable, telesco'ped members 43, 44, one member being pivoted to the horn 34 and lthe other to the traveler 35. The inner member 44 carries hooks 45 at opposite sides, projecting through longitudinal slots 46 in the outer member 43, these slots permitting relative longitudinal movement of the two The outer member 43 likewise bears hooks 47. The -hooks 45 and 47 face away from each other, and are connected by elastics 48. Spring means are thus provided for yieldingly holding the telescopic strut extended to a degree determined by a stop, here afforded by the abutment of the hooks 45 against the ends of the slots 46. When the plane lands the elastics give, permitting the strut to shorten under cushioned resistance, thus taking up the shock.

While the preferred and complete embodiment of the invention has been described in detail, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the single design illustrated, since part or all of the advantages of the machine from nosing over from such causes or when landing in snow or mush or 4on the water; the small head resistance, on

the other hand, gives greatly increased speed, which results also from the comparative lightness of the compact body. The lowering of the center of mass due to the invertedposition of the engine, so that the center of gravity substantially coincides with the low center of n area of this type of amphibian plane or flying-boat, gives great ease of control and maneuverability, heretofore lacking in flying-boat machines.

What I claim as new is:

1. An airplane characterized by the combination of a unitary head-.resistance body comprising a boat portion and an enclosed upper portion forming virtually continuous lateral fin area, an engine bed at the forward upper portion of said body, and an inverted engine supported on said bed, with its cylinders depending below7 the bed, driving a propeller the shaft of which is substantially at the top of the head-resistance body, the center of fin area rnd the center of gravity of the body being approximate to each other, whereby decreased head resistance and ease of maneuverability are. secured in a machine of the flying-boat type.

2. An airplane characterized by the com.

bination of a unitary head-resistance body comprising a boat ortion and an enclosed upper portion forming virtually continuous lateral fin area, an engine bed at the forward top portion of said body, and an inverted engine supported on said bed, with its cylinders depending below the bed, directly driving a propeller the shaft of which is substantially at the top of the head-resistance body, the center of fin area and the center of gravity of the body being approximate to each other, whereby decreased head resistance and ease of maneuverability are securedv in a machine of the flyingboat type. l

3. An airplane characterized by the combination of a unitary head-resistance body comprising a boat portion and anenclosed upper portion forming virtually continuous lateral tin area, an engine bed at the upper portion of said body, and an inverted engine supported on said bed, with its cylinders depending below the bed, driving a propeller the shaft of which is substantially at the top of the head-resistance body, the center of iin area and the center of gravity of the body being approximate to each other, whereby decreased head resistance and ease of maneuverability are secured in a machine of the flying-boat type.

4. An airplane characterized. by the combination of a unitary head-resistance body comprising a boat portion and an enclosed upper portion forming virtually'continuous lateral fin area, an engine bed at the forward upper portion of said body, and an ins verted engine supported on said bed, vwith its cylinders depending below the bed, driving a forward propeller the shaft of which is substantially at the top of the head-resistance body, the center of fin area and the center of gravity of the body being approximate to each other, whereby decreased head resistance and .ease of maneuverability are secured in a machine of the flying-boat type.

5. An airplane characterized by the combination of a unitary head-resistance body comprising. a boat portion and an enclosed upper portion forming virtually continuous lateral fin area, the boat portion being extended forwardly as a nose, a retractible landing gear on the body, an engine bed at the forward upper portion of said body, and an inverted engine supported on said bed,

with its cylinders depending below the bed,

driving a propellertheshaft of which is substantially at the top of the head-resistance body, the center of fin area and the center of gravity of thebody being approximate to each other, whereby decreased head resistance and ease of maneuverability are secured in a machine of the flying-boat type, capable of landing anywhere, on water, land, mud, snow, on in vegetation.

6. An airplane having in combination a unitary head resistance body comprising a boat portion and an enclosed upper portion; an engine bed on the upper forward portion of the body, the boat art of the body being extended as a forwardly projecting nose, an inverted engine supported on said engine bed, its cylinders depending below the bed, and a tractor propeller driven by the engine and guarded by the nose, its shaft substantially at the top ofthe body, together with a radiator for the engine cooling system at the front of the body beneath the engine and behind the propeller.

7. An airplane having in combination a unitary b ead resistance body, the lower part of the body forming a boat' hull and being extended as a forwardly projecting nose, a tractor ropeller guarded by the nose, its shaft substantially at the top of the body, an engine to drive the propeller contained in the body, lits cylinders'below the propeller shaft, together with a radiator for the engine cooling system at the front of the body below the propeller shaft and behind the propeller.

GRovER o. LOENING.

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