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Aviation History
1909
1909 - 0247.PDF
MAY 1909. WRIGHTS' BRITISH PATENTS. THR?i? MA?»T2r^E WRIGHT HAVE TAKENl^OUT A PATENT RELATING TO THE CONTROL OFliifclK MACHINE COVERING THEJINTER-CONNgCTlON OF THE RUDDERS WITH THE WING TIPS. THE latest of the Wrights' British patents, No. 24076 of 1908 must really be regarded as preceding another patent already abstracted in FLIGHT of March 20th, for it deals with the same subject, but its clauses cover fundamental principles to which the latter patent is but a supple- mentary system. The object of the present invention is to correct the slewing tendency resulting from warping the wings by the use of one or more rudders in connection with a fixed vertical forward plane or prow. The drawings accompanying the specification represent a biplane equipped with an elevator in front, a rudder behind the elevator, a fixed plane or prow behind the rudder, and another rudder at the rear of the machine. It will be noticed that the claims of the specification include a clause covering the use of a single rudder in conjunction with the fixed prow, which system it may be remarked is that in use on Wright's own machine, where the prow, or rather pair of prows, are mounted between a When the flyer, having heeled over from any parti- cular cause, has to be righted, theoperation is performed by warping the wings in such a manner that the rear corners of the planes at one extremity are flexed downwards, while those at the opposite end of the machine have their angle of incidence reduced. Assuming that the machine continues to travel in its proper line of flight, the result of this operation is to increase the lifting effect under that end of the plane which has the greater angle of incidence, but in practice it is found, as would naturally be expected from theory, that increasing the angle of incidence likewise increases the side, thereby causing whole, to swerve from over, not only is this resistance on that the machine, as a its path. More- the case, but in swerving the outer wing travels at an increased velocity and exerts a proportionately greater lift, so that instead of righting the machine the initial results of the manoeuvre tends if unchecked to make it capsize. In, order that the operation of warping the wings may result in the proper effect, it is necessary to definitely maintain the initial velocity of that side of the machine which tends to lag behind. This latter manoeuvre can be achieved by steering in the opposite direction to that in which the machine, as a whole, tends automatically to swerve as •a result of the warping. It is an operation which Wilbur Wright is in the habit of performing on his flyer, and the present invention covers the general system. the two planes of the front elevator. The object of the prow is of course the same as that of the cutwater on a boat, it gives the machine direc- tion, by completing the couple producing the turning moment which alters the line of flight. Without a prow the tendency of steering would be to make the flier spin round on its own axis while still travelling on as a whole in the same direction. In addition to one of the drawings from the patent specification, we have prepared a little sketch which illustrates the arrangement of the planes and rudders more clearly, but does not show the con- structional details referred to in the patent itself. Provision is made for operating the rudders by a system of cords arranged as illustrated in the patent drawing, these cords being coupled up to a lever which is adjacent to another lever used for warping the planes. The levers are so close together that they can be grasped simultaneously in one hand if required, a convenience which is essential when the planes have to be warped for righting purposes. It is, of course, impossible to permanently inter-connect the two levers, as otherwise the rudders would not be independently available for steering. Part of the specification naturally relates to the construction of the machine in such a manner that the main planes can be warped as required, and as this is not only an essential characteristic of the Wright flyer, but is also a very interesting constructional detail in itself, we abstract the following paragraphs which describe the design:— " For the purpose of obtaining the helicoidal torsion, the aero- planes, I and 2, may be movable about axes situated in their plane. The front standards, 5, the parts in front of the frames, 3, and the 249
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