USRE21484E - Aircraft - Google Patents

Description

June 18, 1940;

R. J. THOMPSON AIRCRAFT Original Filed Ilay 18, 19I $8 (S-Sheets-Sheet 1- IN VENTOES Egan/20 .1. 7/7oMP5o/v Y 44 T TOE/YE Y5 June 18,

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Original at. 2,101,143, dated No. 208,650. May is, 1938. issue am 15. 1040. Serlal No. sum:

This invention relates generally to aeronautics,

and more particularly to heavier-than-air craft.

An object of this invention is to provide a heavier-than-air craft which is structurally characterized by lifting surfaces whose chords greatly exceed their spans, andby relatively long keelforming surfaces on the fuselage of the craft,

whereby to materially increase directional stability, reduce head resistance. and cheapen as well as simplify the construction of the craft by enabling the wing spars to be shortened and full cantilever bracing simplified, all to the end of producing an aircraft which will be inherently stable and positively spin-proof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a heavier-than-air craft, the wings of which can be variably cambered under the control of the pilot, in order to obtain a maximum-camber for maximum lift in taking off or climbing. and a I 1) minimum camber for minimum lift with a reduction in parasitic drag in flight, so as to effect an increase in the speed of the craft, all in such manner as to permit the wings to'be constructed as flat surfaces capable of being flexed to obtain 3 the desired camber. v

' A further obiect of the invention is to provide an aircraft which, by its novel wing and fulselage structures, enables the motor or motors to be located amidship without materially affecting the go center of gravity or the distribution of weights; enables loads to be safely distributed over the full length of the structure so'as'to increase the safety factor of the ship and make more usable space available; and permits the'craft to be placed in a stalled attitude and to lose altitude at a controlled speed without any danger of spinning, all while enabling the pilot at any time during such a maneuver to regain fast forward flight without the necessity of nosing the ship downwardly with the attendant loss of altitude. I Another object of the invention is to provide an aircraft in which the wing structure embodies means enablingcthe craft to be safely stalled into a landing, or to be slippedout of a stall by destroying the ,lift. on at least a'portion of one wing or the other with the consequent creation of a highly rarefied air tive wing. a

Still another object of the invention is to provide anaircraft wherein the relationship of its horizontal stabilizer, elevators and/or wing tips enables full control of the craft to be maintained at or below a stalling speed, due to a Venturi action created in clearance slots or spaces between these elements, which action sets up a current of high velocity air permitting the craft to settle vertically while retaining control of the elevators. so that by opening the throttle and movpocket under the respecm, :5. 1m. Serial for reand the novel features pointed out an aircraft embodying views taken, respectively, on the lines H, 6-0.

1-1, and H of Fig. 1, J

Pig. 9 is a diagrammatic view of a hydraulic control mechanism for wing flaps embodied in the invention, V

Hg. 10 is a perspective view of a valve member embodied in the hydraulic control mechanism,

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the aileron controls. and '1 Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view taken on the line i2ll of Fig. 1, and illustrating the structure by which the Venturl eflect is obtained. I

Referring specifically to the drawings, my preferred form of aircraft embodying this invention comprises a streamlined fuselage II which is relatively long and narrow and merges at its tail end into a keel ii from which projects upwardly a vertical stabilizer I! having mounted thereon a rudder I 3, the controls of which are conventional and have clearness.

The fulselage is provided with a suitable landing gear I, and in the present instance a single engine it having a direct driven tractor propeller I1 is mounted in the nose of the fuselage. However, it will be understood that by the provision of this invention, the engine can be mounted amidships without materially affecting the center of gravity or the distribution of weights on the craft.

Supported from the fuselage at a suitable been omitted for the sake of angle of attack, and'with a predetermined posi- I tive dihedral, are rightand left-hand wings il-ll, the chords of which preferably greatly exceed their spans so that the wings are relatively long and narrow in a direction longitudinally of the fuselage, whereby to reduce head resistance to a minimum and increase directional stability suiilciently to co.-act with the fuselage and particularly'its keel portion I I in rendering the craft I inherently stable.

l romtheirleadingedgestothepointsindicated at la-ls the wings are rigid and are rigidly attached to the fuselage, whereas from the points I! to their trailing edges or tips, the wings are free of the fuselage to provide portions II which are flexible toa limited extent.

The free portions of the wings taper to their rounded trailing edges fl, and closely follow the contour of the fuselage I. to provide intervening narrow slots 22 between the fuselage and wings approximately to the forward end of the keel portion II from which the wings diverge to accommodate a horizontal stabilizer II and an elevator 2| pivotally mounted thereon and provided control of the craft to be maintained at or below stalling speed, by setting up a zone of high velocity air about the control surfaces, permitting the craft to settle vertically while retaining control of the elevators. throttle and moving the stick II forward to depress. the elevator, forward speed can be regained without the necessity of nosing the ship down-- wardly. a

The flexibility of the portions 2. of the wings is utilized to variably camber the wings in order to enable maximum cambering for maximum lift to be obtained to aid in the taking off or when climbing, and minimum cambering for minimum lift for high speed forward flight. For this purpose there is shown in Figs. 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7 a manually-operable control mechanism which comprises a shaft II extending longitudinally and centrally in the fuselage II, and journaled at intervals in pairs of bearings II, 8., and ii. Fixed to the shaft 28 between the respective pairs of bearings are worms 3!, I3, and 34, respectively, meshing with worm wheels I, I, and 31 fixed to shafts ll, 38, and II respectively, which shafts are iournaled in suitable hearings in the fuselage.

Pivotal ly connected to the worm wheels ll, 30, and 31 are pairs of connecting rods ll, 42, and

ll, respectively, which are connected to rigid transverse franie members ll, 4!, and ll, forming part of theframework of the flexible portions ll of the wings ll.

The forward end of the shaft 28 is connected by a universal joint 41 to a shaft ll, the'forward end of which'is journaled in a bearing II and has fixed thereto a bevel gear iii meshing with a second bevel gear ll fixed to a vertical shaft i3 journaled by bearings "-54 at one side of the cockpit 5i. 1 The upper end of the shaft II is provided with an operating handle I, and ,it is to be noted that in order to effect a predetermined eambering of the flexible portions 2| of the wing II, the worms 32, II, and 14 and their mating worm wheels can be of progressively increasing pitches, or in lieu thereof, the rods ll, 4!, and ll can be connected to the respective worm wheels II, I, and 31 at progressively increasing distances from the center of the shafts 38, 8., and ll, respectively.

v Thus it will be clear that by operation of the handle it, the flexible portions of the wings can be variably cambered to vary the lift mm a Thus. upon opening the fit closely in the recesses so as to be, flush with the undersurface of the wings, and are manually controlled by a suitable hydraulic mechanism (Figs. 9 and 10) to enable them to be swung downwardly independently of each other to occupy an active position. v

For this purpose the pivot shafts Oil and 60a of the respective flaps BI and Ila are extended through the opposite sides of the fuselage and have fixed thereto arms i l6ia connected to the rods "-424 of pistons "-430. working in hydraulic cylinders "-4411 suitably supported in fixed positions in the fuselage.

A hydraulic valve '5 includes a cylindrical body II to one side of which is connected at diametric'ally opposite locations, feed and return conduits l'l'and I leading from opposite sides of a pump I constantly driven by the engine ii, a suitable spring loaded by-pass valve Ill being connected across the conduits to enable the liquid to circulate idly in the system when the valve 85 is closed.

' Other conduits ll, 12, 13, and it are connected to the opposite side of the body 88 at circumferentially spaced locations and are connected toopposite ends of the cylinders "-8441 in the ardisc ll having an operating handle 18 is rotatably mounted in the body and is provided with 'rangement clearly shown in Fig. 9. A closure axial passages l1 and "a opening at one face of the disc into arcuate channels ll and Ila, and adapted to co-act therewith in placing either end of either the cylinder 04 or a in communication with thefeed conduit '1 while the other end of the respective cylinder is connected to the return conduit I, according as the disc is rotated to various positions Thus, either of the flaps SI and 51a can be moved to an active position wherein the flap is disposed at an angle to the respective wing to extend downwardly and rearwardly thereof so as to destroy the lift under the respective wing from' the flap to the tip of the wing, thereby enabling the craft to he slipped out of a stall and to safely execute a sharp turn about its nose as a center.

Ibrwardly of the flaps I and la, the wings are cut out to receive ailerons I! and 19 provided with the conventional arrangement of cable and pulley controls CI to the stick II, as clearly shown in Fig. 11.

I claim as my invention:

i. In an aircraft, a fuselage; wings projecting from the sides of the fuselage; the chords of the wings greatly exceeding the spans thereof so as to reduce head resistance to a minimum; the rearward portions of the wings being free of the fuselage and being flexible in a direction to enable the camber of the wings to be varied; spai's secured to said flexible portions of the wings and proiecting transversely of the fuselage at spaced locations-along the length thereof; a rotatablymounted shaft extending longitudinally in the fuselage: geared connections driven by said shaft and operatively connected to said spars; and means by which said shaft can be rotated, whereby to flex said portions of the wings.

2. m an aircraft. a fuselage: wings projecting from the sides of the fuselage; the chords of the wings greatiyexccedinsthespansthereofsoas to reduce head resistance to a minimum; the rearward portions of the wings being free of the fuselage and being flexible in a direction to enable the camber of the wings to be varied; spars sea wings greatly exceeding the spans thereof; a

horizontal stabilizer projecting from the body between the wings and co-acting with the rear portions of the wings to define narrow slots therebetween of Venturi cross-section; andan elevator mounted on the body and'co-acting with further rearward portions of the wings to define narrow slots therebetween of Venturi cross-section for the purpose described.

I 4. In an aircraft, a. streamlined body; wings projecting from said body; the chords of the wings greatly exceeding the spans thereof a horizontal stabilizer projecting from the body between the wins; an elevator mounted on the body between the wings; and means co-acting with the wings, stabilizer and elevator to cause air at a high velocity to pass therebetween should the craft assume a stalling attitude during flight, so as to enable the craft.to settle vertically in the air without loss of control by the pilot.

5. In an aircraft, the combination of: a fuselage; wings projecting laterally from said fuselage, and extending rearwardly thereof; a horizontal stabilizer projecting rearwardly from said fuselage between said wings and coacting with the rear portions thereof to define relatively narrow slots therebetween of Venturi cross-section; and an elevator mounted between furtherrearward portions of said wings and co-acting therewith to define relatively narrow slots therebetween of Venturi cross-section for the purpose described.

6. In an aircraft, the combination of: a fuselage; wings projecting laterally from said fuselage, the chords of said wings exceeding the spans thereof a horizontal stabilizer projecting rearwardly from said fuselage between said wings and co-acting with the rear portions thereof to define relatively narrow slots therebetween; and

an elevator mounted between further rearward portions of said wings and co-acting therewith to define relatively narrow slots therebetween for the purpose described.

7. In an aircraft, the combination of: a fuserow slots therebetween: and an'elevator mounted between further rearward portions of said wings and co-acting therewith to define relatively narrow slots therebetween for the purpose described.

8. In an aircraft, the combination of: a'fuselage; wings projecting laterally-from said fuselage and extending rearwardly thereof, the rear portions of said wings diverging rearwardly to define a space of increasing width therebetween; and

horizontally-disposed control means mounted between said rear wing portions. and co-acting therewith to define narrow slots therebetween, said control means being movable in a vertical plane to vary the cross-section of said slots..

9. In an aircraft, the combination of: a fuselage; wings projecting laterally from said fuselage and extending rearwardly thereof, the rear portions of said wings being spaced apart; and horizontally-disposed control means mounted between said rear wing portions and co-acting therewith to define relatively narrow slots therebetween, said control means being movable in a vertical plane to -vary the cross-section of said slots.

10. In an aircraft, the combination of: a fuselage; wings projecting laterally from said fuselage, the chords of said wings exceeding the spans I thereof, the rear portions of said wings being spaced apart; and horizontally-disposed control means mounted between said rear wing portions and co-acting therewith to define relatively narrow slots therebetween, said control means being movable in a vertical plane to vary the cross- 'section of said slots.

11. In an aircraft, the combination of: a fuselage; wings projecting laterally from said fuselage, the chords of said wings exceeding the spans thereof, the rear portions of said wings being spaced apart; and horizontally-disposed control means mounted between said rearwing portions, said control means being movable in a vertical plane with respect'to said rear wing portions, whereby the fiow of air across the surfaces of said control means may be varied by movement thereof.

12. In an aircraft, the combination of: a fuselage; wings projecting laterally from said fuselage, and extending rearwardly thereof, the rear portions of said wings being .spaced apart; and horizontally-disposed control means mounted between said rear wing portions, said control means being movable in a vertical plane with respect to said rear wing portions, whereby the fiow of air across the surfaces of said control means may be varied by movement thereof.

lage; wings projecting laterally from said fuselage, and extending rearwardly thereof, said wings having a relatively large positive dihedral, the rear portions of said wings being spaced apart; and horizontally-disposed control means mounted between said rear wing portions, said control means being movable in a vertical plane with respect to said rear wing portions, whereby the flow of air across the surfaces of said control means may be varied by movement thereof.

14. In an'aircraft, the combination of: a fuselage; wings projecting laterally from said fuselage and extending rearwardly thereof; a horizontal stabilizer projecting rearwardly from said fuselage between said wings; an elevator mounted between said wings; and means co-acting with the wings, stabilizer, and elevator to cause air at a high velocity to pass therebetween should the craft assume a stalling attitude during flight.

15. In an aircraft, the combination of: a fuselage; wings projecting laterally from said fuselage and extending rearwardly thereof; a horizontal stabilizer projecting rearwardly from said fuselage between said wings; an elevator mounted between said wings; and means co-acting with the wings, stabilizer, and elevator to cause air to pass therebetween should-the 'craft assume a stalling attitude during flight. p

RICHARD .J. THOMPSON.

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