US1670778A - Airship - Google Patents

Description

R. J. MOLAUGHLIN May 22, 1928.

AIRSH-IP Filed May 1926 4 Sheets Sheet 1 May 22, 1928.

- R. J. MCLAUGHLIN AIRSHIP Filed May 5, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 22, 1928. 1,670,778 R. J. M LAUGHLIN ,AIRSHIP Filed May 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 May 22, 1928'. 1,670,778 v R. J. MCLAUGHLIN v AIRSHIP Filed May 5, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 46 V I ,::T l 46 4a A as I v 48 ,/Y

My 67 4 WM Patented my .22, 1.92s.

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:aoiannir 'J, McLAUGHLIN, or NEW YORK, 1%; Y.-

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Application .filed m 5, 1926. Serial in. 106,877.

My invention relates to the navigation ofthe upper atmosphere, and to improvements 'in'helicopter wings whereby they automatically revolve during flight, and when the airship volplanes, and in this respect have all the advantages of the fixed airplane. They are geared to the propeller and transmit whatever power they derive as wind wheels to the propeller, and'thus augment the motion of propulsion, especially when volplaning.

' Atmospheric pressure gauges also increase their angles of incidence when the craft ascends into thin air, and automatic stability is secured by placing the center of gravity well below the average lifting surface.

An air-tight car is provided both for the motor and the passengers, and this is filled with air at normal pressure by an air'pump.

The craft will function best with a low powered motor by taking off and landing in the manner of the common airplane, but with high powered motors it will be able to rise vertically from the ground. It will travel fast at a great height under the propulsion of a centrifugal propeller of special design.

lhe helicopter wings functionalso like the bellows, and open and close at every revolution around the vertical axis of the airship.

In opening, the air enters from the rear during a backward sweep of the wing, and in closing, the air is expelled backward during a forward sweep of the'wing. The lifting pressure on the flexible, ,Cambered, lower surfaces of the wings not only sustains the airship, but expels the air from the wings" through a series of vents in their rear concave surfaces. Thus there will be 'no vacuous wake in the rear of the revolving wings, but rather a region of compression, and this will greatly facilitate the rapid'rotation of the wings. A considerable weight of air will be discharged backward at each revolution of the wings, and as this air will move with the wings its discharge through the vents will impart a great reacting thrust to the helicopters. As the lift will bemuch greater than the drift, the force with which the air will be expelled will largely balance the drift.

The objects of 1y improvement are: first, to provide an airtight ear in which the motor operates at normal atmospheric pressure, and exhausts into the rarefied air, when flying' at a great height, thus increasing its 7 The lift pressure 'will operate the, bellows'very efficiently.

, clockwise.

power, since there will be two power strokes, the first caused by the explosion of the gas, and the second by the suction at the exhaust vent, and the pressure is maintained in the car by an air pump; second, to provide lifting surfaces whose angles of incidence auto matically increase as the airship rises into more rarefied regions; third, to employ a series of bellows wings which are revolved by the pressure of the air, and will rotate whenever the airship moves forward; and finally, to propel the craft scientifically without the gross loss of power peculiar to the screw propeller, and to employ for this purpose a centrifugal propeller of special'design.

T attain these objects-by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the craft. It is partly in section; Fig. 2 is a top view of the airship; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the airship with parts cut away; Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the airship; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the helicopter wings; Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the air pump, and a side elevation of the cog wheels connecting it with the motor; Fig. 7 isa side elevation of a wing truss with a flexible rib, an expanding air cushion, and front and rear horizontal beams shown in section; Fig. 8 is a top view showing the vupper part of the frame work of the helicopter wings, the car. the airplane partly cut away, and other parts; Fig. 9 is a sectional view of the centrifugal propeller; Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the centrifugal propeller with parts removed showing the vertically disposed curving vanes, the turbine vanes, the lower hood, and the bell shaped mouth; Fig. 11 is a top view of the centrifugal propeller as shown in Fig. 10, with the buffer hood and mushroom shaped hood removed, showing the vertically disposed curving vanes. the turbine vanes, and the lower hood; and Fig. 12 is a detail view in section showing the gear wheels and thrust bearings of the centrifugal propeller.

Similar numeral refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A hollow metal shaft 1, Fig. 1, revolves in a similar shaft 2. The motion of shaftl when viewed from above the airship is clockwise, while the motion of shaft 2 is counter- I the concave surface shown by the Shaft 1 revolves on ball bearings 3 set in a. metal casing 4. It is rigidly connected to the horizontal gear wheel 5 which meshes with the semi-spherical teeth of the vertical gear wheel 6, Figs. 1 and 6, which is attached to the shaft of the motor 21,. and revolves with it.

Shaft 2 also revolves on ball bearings 52 and is rigidly connected to the horizontal gear wheel 7 which meshes with the semispherical teeth of the vertical gear wheel 6.

The helicopter wings 8 and 9 revolve with shaft 1 to which they are'connected by the horizontal arms 10 and 11 shown in Fig. 8.

The oppositely revolving helicopter wings 53 and 54 revolve with the shaft 2 to which they are rigidly connected by the horizon tal arms and 56, also shown in Fig. 8.

In Fig. 7 a vertical truss 12 is shown which'extends across the wing from the longitudinal beam '15 to the longitudinal beam 20, and is rigidly connected to similar loncharged through the vents at a.h1gh speed,

gitudinal trusses 13.

The flexiblerib 14 is rigidly attached to the tubular beam 15, Fig. 7, and is separated from the truss 12 by the expanding longitudinal rubber air cushion 16 which extends across the wing from end to end. At the ground level ,thlS cushion contains air at the normal atmospheric pressure, but as the airship ascends into thin air the cushion expands and increases of the wing.

The elastic cords 52 hold the rear concave surface of the wings in position, 7 vent them from blowing out. They are not a necessary feature, however, and concave rear surfaces might become convex without detriment when the air is discharged.-

The cushion 16 receives the impact of the rising flexible rib 14 shown in Fig. 7 in the position it occupies when the helicopter wing is making a forward sweep. o

The position of the rib 14, and the osition of the lower cambered surface 0 the helico ter wing to which the rib 14 is attached: are shown by the dotted lines 17 as the will be when the helicopter wing is ma ing a backward swee in adirection'opposite to the motion of t e' airship. In this position the air will press heavlly a ainst otted lines 18, Fig. 7, and the air will fill the helicopter wing to its widest extent, entering the angle of incidence through the series of circular vents 19 shown in Fig. 5.

The air in the rigid section of the wing will be insulated from the air acted upon b the lower flexible part of the wing, as wel as from the outside air. This com artment will, however, not be absolutely airtight, and will contain air at the same pressure as that throughwhich the wing is moving.

l When the wing 54 swings horizontally around the vertical shaft 2, and begins to and pre It will enable the airship to take off at slow speed, and to land'at slow speed.

The vertical. pressure on the lower surface of the advancing helicopter wingfiwill elevate the lower surface from shown by the dotted lines 17, position shown by the solid line 14.

As the lower surface rises the air contained in the flexible part of the wing will be discharged in a backward direction through. the circular vents 19, Fig. 5.

This discharge will greatly augment the rotation of the helicopter wings and will flush their wake with compressed air diswhich will be caused partly by compression and partly by outside suction. This latter force will very nearly bring the discharged the position Fig. 7, to the air to a stationary position withrespect to the air through which the airship is travelling, and the action of the bellows will augment the suction so effectively that the air will be given a rapid motion. in a backward direction, with respect to the atmosphere. Centrifugal force will cause a discharge of air through the vents 19'near the circumferenceof the wings, and will induce a current of air into the wings through the 'vents 19 near the axis of rotation. This centrifugal action will considerably augment the rotary motion of the wings.

The air pump 22, shown in-Fig. 6, is operated by the cog wheel 23 which is attached to the revolving shaft of the motor 21, and

turns the cog wheel 24 which operates the crank shaft 25, and the piston rod 26.

The piston head 27 is closed at both ends and pumps the air on both the forward and backward strokes, through a system'of air tubes and valves.

The rarefied air outside the car is drawn into the pumpthrough the tube 57.

In making a backward stroke the piston 27 causes a suction in-the space 58, and this opens the valve 59, and the rarefied air enters the space 58.

The forward stroke of the piston 27 compresses the air in the space 58, and the compressed air closes the valve 59, and opens the valve 60, and flows into the car through the tube 61.

At the. end of a forward stroke the piston causes a suction in the pace behind it, andthis opens the valve 62 and closes the valve 63, and the space behind the piston 27 is flushed with rarefied air entering thepump through the tube 64.

On the backward stroke the rarefied air behind the piston is compressed, and the compressed air closes the valve 62, and opens the valve 63, and the air flows into the car through the tube 65.

The work done by the motor in pumping the rarefied air into the car is equal to the power derived by the suction at its exhaust vent, where the burnt gases are discharged into a partial vacuum.

The centrifugal propeller 28, Fig. 1, is housed in the semi-spherical cavity 29, and is revolved by the .vertical gear wheel 30 which meshes with the horizontal gear wheels 5 and 7, and is similar to the vertical gear wheel 6. Every impulse felt by the helicopter wings is transmitted through the gearing system to the propeller, and when the motor is stopped and the airship volplanes, the helicopters function as wind wheels and drive the propeller. The coast-' mg range of the airship, and its totalflying radius will thus be greatly extended.

It will also be possible to turn, the craft into the wind and to volplane alternately with the wind and against it.

Every gust and eddy of the air will contribute to the rotation of the wings and the propeller. a

The air plane 31 is provided with a central opening 32 for the accommodation of.

the car 33, and is pivoted on horizontal shafts 34: extending from the car.

The pneumatic gauge 35 is shown in Fig. l, with the piston head fully extended, and imparting the maximum angle of incidence to the airplane 31. V

At the ground level the piston head will be much higher and the angle of incidence of the airplane will be about 6.

The gauge 35 consists of a cylinder containing air at the normal ground pressure.

In the space 36 above the piston head 37 air is contained in a cylindrical airtight rubber bag with an axial passage for the accommodation of the piston rod 38. This bag expands when the airship mountsinto rarefied air, and drives down the piston head 37 and the piston rod 38, which is attached to the rear of the airplane 31. This automatic action lowers the rear of the plane and elevates its leading edge, and. increases the angle of incidence and the lift-of the airplane so that the decrease in lift due to the rarefaction of the air will be corrected. The pivotal shaft 34 is so placed that the pressure on the plane is perfectly balanced,

and the pull of the piston rod 38 readily depresses or elevates the rear of theplane 31. The airship is shown in Fig. 1 at its greatest altitude, with the plane 31 tilted upward at its maximum angle of incidence; The airtight bag confined in the. space 36 has driven down the piston head 37 to its fullest extent, and expelled all the air below the piston'head. The air will pass outth rough suitable vents in the base -of the pressure bag is fastened to the top of the gauge and I to the piston head 37, and expands or contracts its lower surface against the top of the piston head 37.

'When the atmospheric pressure is greater than the pressure of air in the air-tight bag the piston head 37 is pressed up by the outside air. which enters the gauge below the piston head 37, but when the pressure of the air in the bag is greater than the atmospheric pressure the bag expands against the piston head37, and depresses it until the air pressures above and below the piston head are equalized.

As the expanding bag holds air at normal atmospheric pressure at the ground level it will expand in rarefied air, and the pressure on the piston head 37 will be very great. A change of atmospheric pressure of four pounds per inch would cause the bag to press against the piston head with four or five hundred pounds of pressure according to the size of the gauge, and as the main plane 31 is perfectly balanced on the pivotal shaft 34 the pressure will be sufficient to alter the planes angle of incidence as specified.

The air-tight bagcompletely insulates the space 36 so that no air can pass down through the cylinder35.

The piston head 37 is made slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder 35, so that it can enter the bagwithout tearing it loose from the inner surface of llltl the cylinder. This will occur when the bag lowered, and the safety of the airship se-' cured, as it will be impossible for it to capsize. The use of ailerons will for this reason he obviated, and the airship will be directed entirely by the tail rudders 39. and 40.

The tail 41 will be'supported by the skid 42, and the rubber tired wheels 43, mounted on the axle shaft 67, will supportthe central part of the airship.

The main plane will be covered with thin sheet aluminum but the helicopter wings will be covered with airplane fabric to permit -the flexible parts to operate easily.

Atriangular horizontal tail fin 66 is shown in Figs. 2 and 4.

The centrifugal propeller shown in Figs. 9, and 11 with the axis in a vertical position is described in this position, although the axis will be horizontal when the propeller is inaction as shown in the draw- 11] S- The shaft 44 is rigidly connected to a buffer hood 45, Fig. 9 and to a mushroom shaped interior hood 46, which is attached to a lower hood 47. This is also mushroom shaped. The two lower hoods through which the discharged and induced current of air passes, are connected by a series of vertically arranged curving vanes 48, and a series of turbine vanes 49.

The central portion of the lower hood 47 is shaped like the mouth of a bell, and receives a current of air which flows between the mushroom shaped hood 46, and the lower hood 47, and passes through the vertically arranged curving vanes 48, and through the turbine vanes 49, and is discharged through an annular open vent- 51. The current of air thus moves through 180 and exerts its impulse twice in an upward axial direction through the action and reaction of the current of air against the lower curving surface of the mushroom shaped hood 46.

When the propeller is revolved the air held between the vanes 48 and 49 is acted upon by centrifugal force and the pitch ansic of the vanes 49, and a current of air is rawn from the axial space inside and above the bell 50, and discharged from the annular vent 51.

This current passes through the vanes 48, and is dischargedinto empty annular space 67 extending between the vanes 48 and the vanes 49, and thence into the spaces between the vanes 49, and finally through the annular vent 51.

Centrifugal force is developed by the circular motion of the air as it moves from the axis under the curving surface of the mushroom shaped hood, 46, and this centrifugal force gives an impulse to the propeller in an upward axial direction.

Atmospheric pressure causes the impulse of the current of air entering the bell 50, against the inside sl rface of the mushroom shaped hood 46, and according to a well known principle of hydraulics, the pressure due to the impulse of a jet may be made to balance the hydrostatic pressure due to twice the head causing the flow.

The suction, maintained by centrifu :11 force in the axial space inside and above 514: bell 50, causes a static atmospheric pressure on the buffer hood 45 in a direction opposite to the motion of the airship, and an opposite dynamic atmospheric pressure against the inside surface of the mushroom shaped hood, caused by the impulse of the current of air entering the bell 50. According to the principle of h'ydraulics'mentioned above the dynamic atmospheric pressure is twice as great as the static atmospheric pressure.

In addition to the thrust given to the propeller by the superior dynamic pressure of the current of air, there is a reaction on the propeller caused by the discharge of the current of air in a downward direction.

In passing through the empty annular space 67, extending between the vanes 48 and 49, the current of air automatically ad usts its course, so that it enters the turbine vanes This diminishes propeller torque to a neg ligible quantity, and recovers from 80% to 90% of the kinetic energy of the current of air, so that the work done in revolving the propeller is reduced to from 10% to 20% of the kinetic energy of the current of air im mediately before it reaches the turbine vanes.

As the suction at the vents 50 and 51 caused by the forward motion of the airship is equal, the thrust of the propeller is not lessened by the forward motion of the airship. This is not the case with the screw propeller, whose pitch angle is progressively decreased by the motion of the airship, and the slip, which is d the difference between the laboratory pitch and the speed of the airship, will not enter into the equation of this centrifugal propeller.

It is also important to note that the air current is travelling with the airship at the moment it begins to reverse its course, and the discharge backward is not an impulse given to standing air, as in the case of the screw propeller, but an impulse given to air moving in a forward direction at .the speed of the airship. Such a reaction will vastly transcend the reaction derived by the screw propeller which strikes air moving relatively backward with the speed of the airship. With a 25% slip a screw propeller'drivmg an airplane at seventy-five feet a second has a laboratory pitch of one hundred feet. This means that it has to drive back seventyfivefeet before it reaches the air from which it. deriyes its thrust, and all this backward sweep lslost power. Its actual motion with respect to the standing air is only twentyfive feet per second.

of the velocity wit which the propeller blade strikes the air. -If it strikes the air.

atone hundred feet a second. the thrust is sixteen timesgreater than when it strikes the air at twenty-five feet a second, and con sequently by. racing away from the air which it is propelling backward it loses most of its power.

The centrifugal propeller will have a thrust no matter how slow its rotation and no matter how fast the airship is moving.

The screw propeller on the contrary has no thrust at all when the speed of the airship equals the laboratory pitch of the propeller.

The reason for this condition is the complete disappearance of thepitch angle of the screw propeller, and the complete loss of the power of the motor in a wasteful churning of the air.

To avoid this condition the airplane is .driven at about 75% of the laboratory pitch distance per second, and the term slip is used to explain the difference between practic'al pitch or pitch in flight, which is misnamed the slip stream, and theoretical pitch, or pitch in the laboratory. With regard to the bellows helicopter we will consider that each wing will draw into 1 its flexible compartment about three pounds of air when making a backward horizontal turn, and on the forward swing when the motion of the wing and the airship are in the same direction, this three pounds of air will be discharged backward through the vents 19, shown in Fig. 5. When the airship is moving at one hundred miles an hour the advancing wing will move at about fifty miles an hour with re-. spect to its axis, so that the actual motion of the advancing wing will-be one hundred and fifty miles an hour, and the actual forward motion of the opposite receding wing will be fifty miles an hour.

The pressure on the receding wing will drive the advancing wing forward because the pressure of the air will be greater onthe receding wing'than on the advancing wing. The three pounds of air carried in the advancing wing will have an actual forward velocity of 220 feet per second, and a. kinetic energy of 2254-foot ppunds.

As there are four wings in the helicopter system twelve pounds of. air will be dis charged backward at 220 feet per second. If we assume that this takes place oncea second, which will be the condition very nearly, the air carried, .ijg'r the flexible part of the wings will have a kinetic energy of 9016-foot pounds or 16 horse power ;and 216-foot pounds.

In discharging the air backward this power will be imparted to the helicopters and will greatly promote their rotation, but

because of the combined action of the suction in the wake of the advancing wings, and the pressure of the bellows, the dlscharged air will not merely come to a standstill with respect to the atmosphere, but will be given an actual backward motion, so that the power derived by the discharge will be much greater than 16 horse power, and there will be a considerable thrust imparted to thewing which will largel balance its drift and augment the thrust o the propeller.

Having described my invention what I claim is: V

1. oppositely revolving helicopter wings, turning on telescope axes, and receiving a lift and drift pressure during the horizontal flight of an airship in an airship of the kind'described, a centrifugal reverse action propeller,- having two mushroom-shaped hoods, an-axial, bell-shaped suction vent, an annular discharge vent, a buffer hood, radial curving fans set between the said mushroom shaped hoods, axial, downward flow turbine vanes, isolated from the said fans by, an empty annular space, and set in .the outer extremity of the said annular s ace; an airplane balanced on longitudinal horizontal pivots extending from the upper cabin of a car, and provided with a central opening a in which the said car is placed, the airplanes angle of incidence being automatically controlled by a pneumatic gauge set below the trailing edge of the said airplane, and consisting of a cylinder, a piston head, a rod and an airtight compartment; an air pumpgeared to a motor to maintain ground level atmospheric pressure in the said car, two oppositely revolving telescope shafts extending vertically from the car, horizontal arms extending from the said telescope shafts, carrying helicopter wings provided with automatic opening and closing aerofoil surfaces, said helicopter wings having-concave trailing portions, air compartments, bellows in said air compartments, vents in the concave trailing portions of the wings, flexible ribs set in the said aerofoil surfaces, air cushions set between rigid upper parts of the wings, and the movable aerofoil surfaces, and serving at different altitudes of the airship both as buffers and gau es of shaped tower with "cabins superimposed upon i one another, two oppositely revolving telescope shafts, extending vertically from said tower, horizontal arms extending from said .telescope shafts, carrying helicopter wings provided with automatic, movable, cambered,

an air pump aerofoil surfaces, a bellows compartment in the lower portion of said helicopter wings, flexible ribs extending from the leading edge of the said wings, raising the aerofoil surface automatically when the wings are revolved in the direction of flight of the airship, and lowering them automatically when the Wings are revolved in a direction opposite to the motion of the airship, an air cushion set between the rigid upper portion of the helicopter wings and the said ribs to relieve the impact of the moving ribs against the rigid portions of the wings, and to function as a gauge of the angle of incidence, a flexible concave rear portion of the said win s, provided with vents-for the dischar e of air from the said bellows, means for revolving said telescope shafts,

geared to said shafts, and maintaining atmospheric pressure in the said tower, a centrifugal reverse action propeller, geared to said shafts, and housed in a I semi-spherical pocket of the upper cabin of-the said tower, pivotal,-horizontal arms projecting from said upper cabin and supporting an airplane provlded with a central opening completely surrounding the said tower, said airplane being pivoted on said horizontal arms, so that its angle of incidence is controlled by an automatic gauge, consisting of a cylinder containing air whose expansion and contraction at different altitudes of the airship successively increase and decrease the angle of incidence of the airplane, substantially as described.

3. In an airship of the kind described a series of oppositely revolvin helicopter win s, bellows compartments, p aced in lower exible portions of the wlngs, enclosed by a lower opening and closing aerofoil surface, an upper rigid surface, a flexible rear, concave surface, an inner, flexible, concave end surface, and an outer, flexible convex end surface, having a series of vents in the said flexible, rear, concave surface; said bellows being operated automatically by wind pr essures, a centrifugal, reverseaction ropeller, having two mushroom-shaped hoo s, a rear, axial, bell-shaped suction vent, a rear, annular discharge vent, a buffer hood, radial fans, curving at their inner portions and becomin plane surfaces at their outer portions, an

aving their forward edges more extended from the axis of rotation than their rear -edges,'in order to impart a greater tangent motion to the forward part of the current of air, passing betweenthe fans, than is imparted to the rear part of the current of air, said fans being set between the said mushroom-shaped hoods, an open annular space, in which the current of "air adjusts its motion after passing through the fans, extending between the mushroom-sha ed hoods, and between the fans and. a tur inc; axial backward flow turbine vanes, isolated from the said fans by thesaid empty annular space, and set in the outer extremity of the said annular space, to recover kinetic energy from I the current of air and to correct tgrq e, a tower with cabins superimposed upon 0 e another, a vertical mast extending from said tower, horizontal, triangular-shaped arms extending from said mast, supporting heli copter wings, a bellows compartment in said wings, acted upon by the centrifugal force of the air rotated in the compartment, and by the lift pressureon the flexible aerofoil surface of the said wings; two horizontal gear wheels provided with semi-spherical sockets meshing with the semi-spherical teeth of cog wheels actuated by a motor and conveying rotation to the said centrifugal propeller; an air pump for compressing rarelied air in the said car, to augment the exhaust stroke of the said motor and to maintain ground level atmospheric ressure in the car, and a pneumatic gauge or controlling the angle of incidence of the plane at different altitudes, substantially as described.

14. A gearing device acting between helicopter wings and a centrifugal propeller of an airship, and in the said airship the combination with a car of a pair of reaction wind wheel helicopters constructed to rotate in opposite directions on telescope shafts supported upon said car, each of said reaction wind wheel helicopters comprising a rigid wing member, an aerofoil, pitch surface, a flexible .rear concave surface, a flexible and concave surface, a flexible end convex surface, a triangular-shaped, horizontal arm supporting each of said helicopters, said surfaces embracing between them an air compartment with vents for the discharge of air, and means for controlling automatically the passage of air into the said compartment, and

for its reacting discharge, substantially as described.

5. An air tight car in which the ground level atmospheric pressure is maintained by an air pump and a motor acting upon one another, in an airshi and the combination with the said airs p, and the said car, of upper and lower reaction, wind wheel helicopters, air cushions set between aerofoil surfaces and fixed inner surfaces of the said helicopters, said air cushions serving as bufiers for the impact of closing aerofoil surfaces, and constituting pneumatic gauges to regulate the an 10 of incidence of the aerofoil surfaces, te escope shafts u on the said car, rotating the helicopter w eels in opposite directions, a motor carried in said car to rotate the said shafts and the reaction, windwheel helicopters thereon; and horizontal cog wheels attached to said telescope shafts, geared to the motor and to a centrifugal reverse action propeller, substantially as described.

6. An airplane with a central opening for vate or lower its leading edge, as the atmospheric pressure is decreased or increased and in the said airship the combination with the said car of a pair of reaction, wind wheel helicopters, constructed so as to rotate in opposite directions, supported upon said car, and attached to the ends of said shafts, cogwheels with semispherical sockets, and meshing with the said sockets, cogwheels with semispherical cogs, a centrifugal propeller mounted upon the said car on a horizontal shaft, a motor for reon concentric shafts,

volving said propeller and said helicopters, and interconnecting gears, whereby said helicopters and said propeller may be operated by the said motor, or by wind pressure or by both, substantially as described.

7. A cylindrical, pneumatic gauge consisting of an interior expanding air space in which the air acts upon a piston head, and a rod, so that every change in the altitude of the airship causes the air in the said space to expand or contract, and thus to depress or elevate the piston head and the rod of the said gauge; said rod being connected to the rear central portion of an airplane revolving on horizontal pivots, extending from the car of the airship, so that the angle of incidence of the airplane is increased when the air in the said space expands and decreased when it contracts. I

ROBERT J. MOLAUGHLIN.

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