Month in the Patent Office

Abstract

A pair of wing‐tip control surfaces each consisting of a nose section 5 with hinged upper and lower rear sections 1,2 may be operated as ailerons by bodily rotation about nose hinges 6; as dive brakes by opening the sections 1,2 to an angle of 120 deg.; and as landing flaps by lowering them bodily through an angle of 30 deg. and then opening the sections 1,2 to an angle of 60 deg. so that the upper sections return to their neutral position. Full aileron control movements may be superimposed when the surfaces are operating as brakes or flaps. In the aileron control system shown in FIG. 1a, the valve 23 of the power cylinder 24 is controlled by a screwed rod 21 operated by the control column 11 through cables 10, quadrant 12, and link 16. The rod 21 may be rotated, to vary its length for independent operation of valve 23, by the rotation of a telescopic shaft 33 coupled to a second shaft 34 which may be connected to the flap operating mechanism, if normal landing flaps are fitted or, if not, to a separate power source. In the former case lowering of the flaps results in simultaneous lowering of the wing‐tip surfaces to give full‐span flap operation, while in the latter, flap effect is obtained by drooping the tip surfaces. The dive brake control mechanism shown in FIG. 1b, consists of a power cylinder 35 mounted inside the nose section 5 of each surface and controlled by a solenoid valve 53, to actuate linkages 40,41 … 47,48 connected to the hinged sections1,2. When the surface has been rotated through an angle of 30 degrees as a landing flap, the solenoid valve 53 is operated automatically to separate the sections 1,2 as previously referred to, When fitted to a tailless aircraft the surfaces may be operated as elevons and by differential dive brake operation be made to serve as drag rudders.

Citation

(1955), "Month in the Patent Office", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 27 No. 7, pp. 233-233. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb032583