Patent GB-141934-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and connected with emergency flotation gear for aircraft
IPC: B64C35/00
Filed: 1919-05-20
Abstract: 141,934. Busteed, H. R. May 20, 1919. Floats for aerial machines; planes and auxiliary surfaces for varying draught.-For use in an emergency descent upon water, an aeroplane is provided with collapsible floats arranged to be inflated when desired, and with a hydro vane so located as to take the shock of alighting. Fig. 11 shows an arrangement in which a pair of floats 1 are supported by tubular members 5 connected to the front end of the fuselage by stays 9 and to the chassis 11 by metal clips, and in which a hydrovane 3 is carried by forwardly-extending struts 30. The tube 5 is strengthened at intervals by spruce fillings 8 as shown in Fig. 8, and the floats consist of bags of balloon fabric of the shape shown in Fig. 7, each formed with two upstanding flaps 14 which are wrapped around the tube 5. A cover 15 of rubber canvas is secured to the tube by a wood strip 16 and screws 17, and carries at its free edge hooks 18, so that, when the bag is collapsed and folded, the cover can be wrapped around it and secured by engaging the hooks 18 with pins 19 located along the tube. All the pins 19 are connected to a cable 22, Fig. 11, which is operated by the pilot to release the bags ready for inflation; or the fastenings for the cover may comprise a series of hooked cranks formed on a rock-shaft and arranged to engage eyelets in the cover. To assist in taking the lift of the floats, each float is connected to the hydrovane 3 by a cable 25 fastened to a canvas flap 24 attached to a patch 23 of rubbered fabric on the float. A tube 26 on the inner edge of the flap 24 carries hooks similar to the hooks 18, and these hooks are engaged with the pins 19 when the float is folded; or the hooks 18 on the cover may pass through openings in the flap 24. The floats may be inflated by means of a pump driven by an air-screw rotated by the airstream, or by a Venturi tube or other injector fed from the air-stream. The preferred method is to use a compressed-air reservoir of smaller volume than is necessary to inflate the floats, and to insert an injector in the pipes leading to the floats, whereby the additional air required is drawn in from the atmosphere. Additional non-collapsible floats may be provided in the :ail of the fuselage and be provided at the top with breathing-openings to permit ingress and egress of air as the aeroplane rises and falls; all the openings may communicate with a pipe extending to the pilot's seat and fitted with a cock. A hydrovane may be arranged under the tail so as to give a downward pressure on the tail and prevent tilting of the nose of the machine Non-collapsible floats of the form shown in Figs. 20 and 21 may be provided under the lower wings near the tips. Each float is of boat form and comprises two halves 74 on either side of the' wing skid 75, internal spruce frames 76 being provided at intervals. The compressed air may further be used to actuate the cables 22 for unfastening the floats before passing to the injector. For this purpose, the air first acts on a piston 67, Fig. 19, working in a cylinder 66 and provided with a crosshead 69 connected by cables 70 to the cables 22, 55. After these cables have been actuated, the piston 67 arrives at the position shown and uncovers a port 72 leading to the injector. In case of failure of this apparatus, air may be supplied to the pipe leading from the injector to the floats, by means of an air-pump, which normally serves to make up leakage. The hydrovane 3 may be made of sheet duralumin, or preferably of wood in the manner shown in Fig. 13, and is carried by struts 30, Figs. 11 to 13, fastened to the fuselage by clips 31 secured to the longerons and chassis 11, and attached to their lower ends to sockets 32 welded to plates 33 bolted to the hydrovane. These sockets also serve for the attachment of a staytube 34 connected to the chassis. The hydrovane is further strengthened by a middle king-post 36 supporting an anchor-plate 37 connected by ties 38 to the plates 33. In a modification, the floats 1 may be carried by planks fastened to the lower longerons of the fuselage and supported at their outer edges by struts connected to the upper longerons, the cover of each float then comprising two flaps hinged to the plank and laced together underneath by pins and eyelets; the hydrovane, in this form, may be fitted near the front end of landing- skids which are provided instead of wheels. In another form, the floats comprise bags arranged under the leading edge of the lower planes and, when collapsed, occupy recesses formed underneath the plane. One of the attaching-flaps of the float is turned over the leading edge, and the other clamped to the underside of the plane, and the cover is hinged to the leading edge and has its free edge fastened under the plane. In machines without fuselages for the accommodation of rear floats, a boat-shaped float may be secured upon the tail.