U.S. Patent Specifications

Abstract

Lateral control means for an aeroplane embodying (a) an aerofoil, (b) a wing tip at each end thereof, each wing tip comprising a nose‐piece, a fixed body portion and an aileron, (c) the nosepiece at the rear thereof and the fixed body portion at the front thereof being provided with curved vanes or blades forming a forward passageway therebetween, the fixed body portion at the rear thereof and the aileron at the front thereof being provided with curved vanes or blades forming a rearward passageway therebetween, the said passageways having their inlet ports at the bottom of the aerofoil to the front of their outlet ports at the top of the aerofoil, (d) means for opening and closing said passageways, (e) means for simultaneously moving the ailerons about an axis or axes substantially transverse to the line of flight to positions above and below the normal planes of their respective wing tips whereby the ailerons may be moved to different angles relatively to the aerofoil and to each other so as to present to the airstream different angles of incidence, (f) the parts being so constructed and arranged that with the aileron of the wing tip on one side of the aerofoil in lowered position and the aileron of the wing tip on the other side of the aerofoil in raised position the forward and rearward passageways of the wing tip with its aileron lowered are open and comprise passageways of gradually decreasing cross‐section from inlet to outlet with their mean cross‐sectional line gradually flattening from inlet to outlet, the amount of opening being such that there is no appreciable straight‐line path for air from inlet to outlet, and at the wing tip having its aileron raised the forward passageway is open to permit a free flow of pressure air upwardly therethrough and the rear passageway is maintained closed, (g) whereby the correlated action of the two wing tips and the aerofoil on the airstream modifies the flow thereof in such way that a predominant rolling force is created which persists and maintains lateral control of the aeroplane well beyond the stalling angle of the aerofoil.

Citation

(1940), "U.S. Patent Specifications", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 60-60. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb030613