US2031876A - Airplane - Google Patents

Description

" Feb. 25, 1936. v. J.l BURNELL. 2,031,876

\ v AIRPLANE.

Filed Feb. 19, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ATTQRNEY Feb. 25, 1936. v, J; BURNELLI 2,031,876

AIRPLANE Filed Feb. 19, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR tion will hereinafter appear.

Patented Feb. 25, 1936 UNITED STATES AIRPLANE Vincent J. Burnelli, Keyport, N. J., assigner to' Burnelli Aircraft, Ltd., a, corporation of Dela- Ware Application February 19, 1935, Serial No. 7,274

3 Claims.

V In military aircraft, such for example as bombe ers, it is desirable that gun re' from rear cockpits may have a horizontal range through at least 180 and a commensurate vertical firing range, for the complete rear protection of the aircraft.

This feature is emphasized in the present application for a multi-engined bombing airplane of the Burnelli all-wing type.

My invention comprises these features:- The provision of booms extending rearwardly, in spaced relation, from the supporting element, and carrying the empennage, said booms each having a gunners cockpit, which is in communication with the fuselage interior, so that the gunners can pass between said cockpits and fuselage. Also I provide in this structure a horizontal stabilizer, spanned between the booms and supporting a single vertical stabilizer, with a. vertical rudder, and a tail wheel, which may be retractible, that is pendent from said horizontal stabilizer, below said vertical stabilizer.

Other features and advantages of my inven- In the drawings:-

Figure 1 is a top plan view of my improved bombing airplane.

Fig. 2 is a front view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in vertical section.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan View, broken away and partly inA horizontal section of the central portion of the-airplane.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail view of the empennage and tail wheel. l

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of Fig. 5, an

Fig. 7 is a front elevation thereof.

In said Views the supporting element is shownA as having the central wing section I and the respective lateral wing sections 2. As known in this Burnelli al1-wing type of airplane the upper surface of the entire wing is of substantially unobstructed airfoil contour, this also being true of the wing under surface excepting that the central section I is deeper than the lateral sections, thereby providing the side walls 3 for the lower portion of said central section.

A pair of engine mounts 4 containing engines that are provided with propellers 5 are shown as projecting forwardly from the leading edge of wing section I, and a pilots cockpit portion 6 extends forwardly from the same leading edge, be-

tween the engine mounts, said portion 6 being further extended forwardly to provide accommodation, indicated at l, for a forward gunner.

Booms 3 are shown as extending rearwardly from the central wing section I, said booms being spaced apart and merging with said central section in faired fashion, as at 9, into the upper surface of said central section. Said booms may, as indicated, be hollow and tapered rearwardly, and they are each provided with a gunners cockpit IIJ, it being an essential feature of my invention that means of communication are'provided between the interior of each cockpit and the interior of the central wing section.

The means of intercommunication between the cockpits Ill and fuselage interior are here indicated by clearances II provided through the upper surface of the central wing section at those portions thereof which lie within the hollow 15 booms 8, where such booms have their merged relation with wing section I. Gunners may easily pass through these clearances and thus enter or leave the cockpits when passing from or to the interior of the wing.

The usual pilots cockpitA is shown at I2, and

retractible landing gear at I3.

As will be noted in Fig. 4, bomb holding compartmentsare indicated at I4fuel tanks at I5 and a rear compartment at I 6.

. The arrows in Fig. 4 indicate passageways that lead between the wing interior, the pilots cockpit and the gunners rear cockpits.

'I'he booms 8, which are required to be hollow at their portions extending forwardly of the cockpits I0, or at least to have passageways that communicate between said cockpits and the wing interior, may or may not be hollow in their rearward extension, provided said booms possess the necessary qualifications for carrying the tail group or empennage.

Thus said tail group is composed of a horizontal stabilizer I1 which is spanned between and carried by booms 8 at their outer ends and the elevator I 8 is hinged to said stabilizer in the usual 40 manner. A single vertical stabilizer I 9 is mounted on stabilizer I 1, aided by the reinforcement of ,struts 20, and a vertical rudder 2l is hinged to stabilizer I9. A retractible tail wheel 22 is shown as extended dependingly from the horin trate the rangeof gun fire available from the rr ar cockpits and it should be noted that the use of a single vertical stabilizer in its centrally disposed rearward position provides a minimum of interference in the ring field, as will be clearly apparent.

Variations 4within the spirit and scope of my invention are equally comprehended by the foregoing disclosure.

I claim:

1. An airplane having a lift producing air-foilshaped body portion with an enclosed space therein, a pair of empennage carrying booms extending rearwardly from said body portion, one at each side thereof, a gunners cockpit located at the junction of eachboom with the body portion, horizontal control surfaces carried by said booms, and vertical control surfaces supported upon said horizontal control surfaces midway between said booms whereby there will be an unobstructed range of re from each gunners cockpit in excess of ninety degrees.

2. An airplane having a lift producing airfoilshaped body portion with an enclosed space therein, a pair of empennage carrying booms extending rearwardly from said body portion, one at each side thereof, a gunners cockpit located at the junction of each boom with the body portion and being partly located in the boom and partly in the body portion, horizontal control surfaces carried by said booms, and vertical control surfaces supported upon said horizontal control surfaces midway between said booms whereby there will be an unobstructed range of re from each gunners cockpit in excess of ninety degrees.

3. An airplane having a lift producing airfoilshaped body portion with an enclosed space therein, a pair of empennage carrying booms extending rearwardly from said body portion, one at 'each side thereof, a gunners cockpit located at the junction of each boom with the body portion, means of communication between each cockpit and the enclosed space within said body portion, horizontal control surfaces carried by said booms, and vertical control surfaces supported upon said horizontal control surfaces midy way between said booms whereby there will be an unobstructed range of re from each gunners cockpit in excess of ninety'degrees.

VINCENT J. BURNELLI.

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