US1920507A - Airplane construction - Google Patents

Description

1933 H. H. HOLLOWAY AIRPLANE CONSTRUCTION Filed June 2, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 1, 1933. H. H. HOLLOWAY AIRPLANE CONSTRUCTION Filed June 2, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 In. veptar;

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flalberzjifjfalloway, per% a f Patented Aug. 1, 1933 uurrso STATES ATENr orrica AIRPLANE CONSTRUCTION Halter-t n. Holloway, Los Angelles, Calif. Application June 2, 1932. Serial No. 614,885 5 Claims. (oi. era-so)" "In the following specification, and the accompanying drawings, I shall disclose my invention, and certain preferred for utilizing it. I shall also mention certain of its more important objects. I do not limit myself to the forms of the invention disclosed, however, since various changes and adaptations may be made without departing from the essence of the invention as hereinafter claimed; and objects and advantages other than specifically mentioned, are included within its scope. V

My invention relates particularly to transport airplanes, including, land planes, sea planes, and amphibians; Among its principal objects are; first, to greatly increase the safety of air transportation, by providing easy and safe descent for the persons carried, independent of the flying structure; second, to provide means for very materially reducing the cost and time reqt for inspecting and servicing commercial iplanes; third, to provide generally improved airplane construction, and particularly improved means for ttaching power units and cabin nacelles to flying structures; and, fourth, to, accomplish the above stated objects by means of very simple, dependable, and inexpensive construction'.

My objects are attained in the manner illustrated, more or less diagrammatically, in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of a land plane that embodies my improved construction, certain po'r tions being shown in longitudinal section taken on the line l-1 of Fig. 2, and certain exterior portions being shown broken away to disclose interior features;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevation of the plane shown in Figs, 1 and '2, a portion thereof being shown in cross section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Figure 4 is a side elevation of the forward portion of an amphibian plane that embodies my improved construction;

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the plane shown in Fig. 4;

Figure 6 is an elevation in longitudinal section, of the upper portion of my improved construction, on enlarged scale, presented for more clear- .ly disclosing details thereof, the section being taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2;

Figure 7 is a plan view of the construction illustrated in Fig. 6, drawn to the same scale as the latter figure, the top skin of the plane wing A having been removed in this view; and

'tion or anoperator.

Figure 8 is a plan View similar to that of Fig. '7, for the purpose of better illustrating the disposal of the parachute packs that are used with the cabin nacelles in myconstruction; and of one means whereby the parachutes may be automatically broken out at a predetermined interval after they have been discharged from the flying structure. j

Similar reference numerals refer to similar parts througho'utfthe several views.

Considering initially the first stated object of my invention, it is well known that passengers in air transportation cannot be depended upon to properly use individual parachute apparatus when an emergency arises. Many persons appear 7 to completely lose control of their senses, and of the coordination of their muscles, under such circumstances; and even those who are not subje'ct to this, may, by reason of their inexperience and lack of judgment, release their individual parachutes too soon, and thus become entangled with rear portions of the plane. To overcome this difficulty, I provide detachable nacelles for transporting passengers, whichmay beinstantly released from the flying structure by the ac- 0 Such nacelles are provided with attached parachutes capable of supporting them, and their contained passengers, in such a manner that the descent will be easy and safe. I

provide automatic means whereby these para- 35 chutes will be broken out at a predetermined time interval after the nacelles have been released; or

be broken out automatically after the nacelles have left the flying structure by a safe distance. When thus broken out, the parachutes will support the nacelles with their contained passengers, and lower them to theground at a low velocity in the well known way.

It will be seen at once that this method of lowering passengers in emergencies is'muchsafer than the use of individual parachutes, since personal idiosyncrasies cannot play any possible part in the operation.

There is still another reasonwhy the safety of passengers is increased when they are within such nacelleswhich is that, whatever the shock of landing there may be, it is taken primarily by the nacelles, rather than by the individual respect to the ground at the same velocity as that of the wind that is blowing. It is not uncommonfor the velocity of the wind at the ground surface to be as much as 30 or 40 miles per hour. To land under these conditions is very much the same as getting out of an automobile that is running at that speed, and many persons cannot accomplish this safely. v

By the use of my invention, not only the shocks of descent in still air, but the shocks of landing in stiff breezes, are primarily taken by the nacelles, rather than by the passengers contained therein. Ordinarily the passengers will remain strapped in their seats. The nacelles may, of course, be damaged by landing shocks, but the very fact that this is an intervening action, serves to prevent serious injury to the passengers. Moreover, as will appear later, I prefer to construct my nacelles as completely enclosed containers. Therefore, if they should accidentaly alight upon a lake, or other body of water, they will float, and the passengers will remain in safety for an indefinite period without muchdiscomfort.

my invention, it is well known that the cost and time required for inspecting and servicing com- 'mercial airplanes, is a serious, and relatively great, item in the cost of operation. To secure safety, and to meet the requirements of the Department of Commerce, transport planes must be thoroughly inspected and voverhauled at stated "flying intervals. This operation consumes many hours of time, and hitherto hasrequired that the planes be laid up during these periods; For this reason, many air transportation companies maintain a number of extra planes, distributed at strategic points along the route, and this frequently is absolutely essential where commercial flying schedules must be maintained. Such operating. methods require arelatively large idle investmentin planes; and the flying time of each plane is much less than the elapsed time, by reason of the fact that it has to .be laid up periodically, for inspection andservice.

To improve these conditions, my invention provides quickly detachable and interchangeable power units; comprising propulsion means, the

necessary auxiliary apparatus, and the housing in which these are contained. Theseunits are quickly separable from the flying structures. Thus, when an operating transport company utilizes a fleet of identical planes, it need have only one or a few extra power units, located at strategic points. When one of the planes requires inspection and servicing, by reason of the mileage that it hasfiown, it may have its power units quickly disconnected and replaced, by neW- ly inspected and serviced power units, and thus remain in service a very large portion of the time.

There are manyincidental advantages of this possibility of my invention. Among these may be mentioned; the power units, when removed from the planes, are easier to'inspect and repair than when they are in place; the inspection, in

stead of having to be done as quickly as possible,

drawings, I have selected for illustration of the Considering next the second stated object of flying structure, an ordinary type of high wing monoplane, powered by two propulsion units, and having two detachable cabin nacelles adapted forcontaining six passengers each. In the case of the land plane depicted in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the landing gear and nacelles are adapted primarily for alighting on land. In the case of the specific variation illustrated, namely, the amphibian plane illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, means are provided for alighting either on water or land. In any form in which my invention is contemplated to used, the propulsion units and the cabin nacelles, except for the landing gear, are substantially identical. I have preferred, for the purposes of this disclosure, to show bi-motored planes, but the invention is perfectly adapted for use of planes having any number of motors.

' In the drawings, the wings of the plane are shown at 11; and azfusela ge intended primarily for carrying flying stresses only, is shown at 12.

A central pilots cockpit'is shown at the leading edge of th wing, at 13; and the usual stabilizers, elevators, and rudder, are illustrated at the right hand end of the fuselage in Figs. 1 and 2.

Detachable power units are shown generally at These are connected to the front spars 15 of the wings, preferably means of three universal quick-detachable joints for each unit. For this purpose I prefer to use ball and socket joints, admitting of some motion in any direction, and adapted to be tightlyassembled without stresses other than the loads to be normally imposed thereon. Such joints are illustrated in section in Fig. 8, wherein the male elements are shown at 16, surrounding ball extremities l? of power unit frame members 18. One pair of the female elements of these joints is rigidly attached to the'lowcr edge of front spar l5, spaced apart, in the manner indicated at 19. The otherv female element is located at the front edge of the wing, central with respect to the other two, and supported by means of four diagonal braces 21 attached to the forward surface of the front spar. Th male and. female members of the attaching means may be in the form of flanged fittings as shown, and be assemblcd by bolts (and the use of shims where required) or these members may be screwed to- 'gether, wither without interposed shims.

Frame members 18 lead downwardly to carry a suitable supporting structure for the propulsion means and auxiliary apparatus, said propulsion means being indicated externally by propellers 22 and cowls 23. ries suitable forward landing gear, such as the pneumatic gears shown at 24 in Figs. 1 and 3; or the combined landing wheels 25 andpontoons 25 shown in Figs. 4 and 5. I prefer, and have shown, all the landing wheels as being retractible.

Thus, in Fig. l, I have shown a long screw at 27, by means of which, in cooperation with. the nut 23 and link 29, the landing gear may be retracted within the housing. of the power Suchpower units as have been described, may be easily detached from their planes within a few minutes, by breaking the three couplings 19 and 20. a

It is common to have auxiliary apparatus adjacent the engines, and, in such cases, they also i should be mounted upon the power unit'frames.

Controls leading from the engines can be carried into the pilots cockpit through tubes 32 provided with means for disconnection, as indi- The power unit frame also car- 1 unit, to the position shown in dotted lines 31 of Fig. 1.

cated'at 33. 'These disconnecting means may be in the form of male and female heads, re-i spectively carrying the terminals of the controls; In this manner, when a connector 33 is broken, it

will 'disconnect'all of the controlsat the same time; and, conversely, they will be connected up again when the connector is put back in place.

Housings of the powerunits preferably butt against the forward edge and lower surface of the wings; as indicated at'B-i and 35; and they should be shaped to fit the wings closely at'these points. 5 I

When a planethat embodies the described features of my construction needs servicing; it can go to the'hangar, have its forward end jacked up at the rear of the power unit, have the power unit disconnected and wheeled away for servicing, and have a new freshly serviced power unit, of identical kind, installed. This whole operation need take only 'a few minutes, and the plane will then be ready forv service again.

In my improved construction, I locate the passenger nacelles directly behind the power units.

detachable means within the control of the pilot plainly in Fig. 6., As'illustrated, these comprise socketmembers 37, rotatably'mounted on the brackets attached to the front and rear wing spars 15 and 38 respectively. These socket memhere may be rotated by levers 39, by means of cables 40 leading to the pilots cockpit or other location convenient for the operator. These sockets are constrained to remain in their normal supporting position, as by tension springs 41, until it is desired to release the nacelle; The nacelles are wholly supported by four rods 42, having pins 43 at their upper extremities adapted to engage corresponding cam grooves 44 in the bayonet sockets 3'7. Obviously, with such an arrangement, when levers 39 are simultaneously operated, the whole nacelle will drop from the plane by reason of its weight. Whatever guides there may be cooperating with the power unit, being merely to prevent sidewise displacement and being vertically slidable, will not interfere in any way with the dropping of the nacelle.

The nacelles preferably are of watertight construction, having forward bulkheads 45 and ceilings 46. Doors 47 in the forward bulkheads allow a steward or other official to enter for caring for the passengers in flight; and doors 4s permit ingress'and egress of the passengers. Both doors, and the windows 49 of the nacelle, are coristructed in such manner that they will be watertight when closed, so that the nacelle will float if it should fall on water. Seats for the passengers are indicated at 50, and ample space is provided at the rear of the passenger entrance, for lavatory arrangements and the storage of hand baggage. 1

The nacelles described form no part of the flying structure, except that they are provided with rear landing wheels 51, for service. under ordinary conditions. After a nacelle has been dropped, the

plane can continue to fly as before, unless an emergency makes this impossible; but it will be deprived of its rear landing wheel under the nacelle, and will then have todependupon some other means of contacting with the ground at the rear, such as an auxiliary tail skid 52-;

Supported on the roof of each nacelle, and within the wing space between the spars, isa packed parachute .53. This is attached to the nacelle, and is adapted for supporting it in such manner as to make its descent velocity within the desired limit. When a nacelle is dropped, its pare achute will drop with it, and some means must be provided for breaking out the parachute sufiiciently farbelow the plane to insure that it will not foul therewith. I prefer to make this breaking-out means automatic, and a simple form of doing this is to have a coiled cord 54 resting upon the top of the parachute pack, and having one of its ends attached to the flying structure, as at 55. The other end of this cord is attached to the releasing mechanism of thepara'chute pack, as

indicated at 56. Thus when thenacelle, with its parachute, is dropped a rare-determined distance from the plane, equal to the length of cord 54, the parachute pack will be ripped, and the parachute will be free to open.

Other means for automatically opening the parachute at a predetermined intervalafter the nacelle is released, will readily suggest themselves.

In the construction illustrated, a steward or other official can communicate with either nacelle and the pilots cockpit, through doors .7, and by climbing upwardly and thereafter laterally, be-

tween diagonal members 21,,and through the forward portion or" the wing. In a passenger carryeither side of the pilots cockpit and communicat- I ing therewith, may be utilized by an extra pilot or other assistant, for inspecting the instruments and making adjustmentsin the power unit housings.

In the case of the amphibian nacelle illustrated in Fig. 4, it may occur to some at first sight, that this is impractical for landing on water, by reason of the relatively high center of gravity. However, it will be seen that such is not actually the case, when it is again pointed out that the doors and windows of the nacelle are of waterproof construction, and that there are no other openings, except possibly ventilators (not shown) which may be opened by the occupants of the nacelle after landing. This amphibian nacelle, by reason of its high center of gravity, doubtless will assume on the water a considerably inclined position. This may be an inconvenience to the occupants, but the nacelle will remain buoyant, and the occupants will be preserved dry and intact until they can be rescued.

Dropping of the nacelles is contemplated in service only when a very severe emergency is encountered, such as fire, shortage of gasoline, or

the breaking of an essential flying member. Under some of such conditions, the lightening of the load by the dropping of a nacelle may permit the pilot to bring his plane safely to earth, since the operators will: have the choice of entering a nacene d p i herewith, or of dropping the nacelles and afterward bailing out with their own individual parachutes.

There'are many methods for utilizing variations of my invention that do not depart from its scope. Among these I would mention that, in the case of low wing planes the cabin nacelles may be expelled upwardly from the plane, instead of causing them to fall downwardly therefrom. This may accomplished in various ways, as byprojecting the nacelles by means of small charges of slow burning powder, or by sufliciently powerful compression springs that may be quickly released. Other changesand adaptations will suggest themselves to those i'amiliar with this art, are contemplated by me as being within the scope of my invention.

Having thus apparently fully describedmy invention,Iclaiin:

1. Airplane construction comprising; a flying structure; a power unit normally connectedto said structure atthree spaced points only, and

to said structure at three spaced points only, and

quickly detachable from all portions thereof;

.a detachable and normally closed cabin. na-Q celle that is not enclosed by other structure, and that is normally connected to the flying structure independently of the powerunit immediately at the rear thereof; and means within the control of an operator for instantly releasing the nacelle from said structure in any flyingposition;

nacelle being so dimensioned and propor tioned as to complete the stream lines of the power unit housing.

3. Airplane construction comprising; a flying structure; a power unit including propulsion means, landing gear, and stream lined housing therefor, normally connected to the flying structure atthree spaced points only, and quickly detachable from all portions thereof; a detachable and normally closed cabin'nacelle suspended from the flying structure directly behind the power unit, not enclosed within other structure and so dimensioned and proportioned as to complete the stream lining of the power unit housing; aparachute attached to the nacelle, normally supported thereby, and adapted to fall there-' with; means within the control of an operator for instantly releasing the nacelle from said structure while in any flying position; and automatic means for breaking-out the parachute at apre-determined interval after the nacelle has been released.

4. Airplane construction comprising; a flying structure; a power unit including propulsion means, a stream-lined housing therefor, and a forward portion of 'a sea-plane float, normally connected to theflying structure at three spaced points only, and quickly detachable from all portions thereof; a detachable cabin nacelle provided with an after portion of a sea-plane float, not enclosed within other structure suspended from the flying structure directly behind the power unit, and so dimensioned and proportioned as to complete the stream lining of the power unit housing and that of the forward portion of the sea-plane float; a parachute attached to the nacelle, normally supported thereby, and adapted to fall therewith; means within the control of an opera tor for instantly releasing the nacelle from said structure while in any flying position, and automatic means for breaking-out the parachute at a predetermined interval after the nacelle has been released.

5. The construction set forth in claim l in combination with a landing gear connected to the forward portion of said sea-plane float," and retractile therei'ntojthe forward and after portions of said sea-plane float normally being so disposed as to form a hydro-plane step where they abut.

' HALBERT ,H. HOLLOWAY.

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