A METHOD OF OBTAINING AERIAL LO- COMOTION
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CROFTON MOAT, of Upper Berkeley Street, Marylebone, in the County of
Middlesex, Surgeon, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-sixth day of July, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Crofton Moat, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Crofton.
Moat, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William
Crofton Moat, my exors, adññiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter, during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A METHOD OF OBTAINING AERIAL LO-
COMOTION;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I,
the said William Crofton Moat, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
William Crofton Moat, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully set forth
and ascertained in and by the following Specification thereof, reference being
had to the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, marked A and B, that is
to say:-
My Method of Obtaining Aerial Lomotion consists in making use for the
purpose of a machine constructed in the manner represented in Figure 1
(Sheet A, which is a bird's-eye view, and in Figure 2 (Sheet B), which is a
side elevation of the same. A, A, is an oblong framework of wood, which
rests when on the ground on legs a, a, a, a. B, B, are two wooden bars, by
which the legs a, a, a, a, are connected transversely at about midway of their
length. C, C, C, C, are four longitudinal bars, also of wood, which are dove-
tailed at their two ends into the transverse bars B, B. D, D, are two wooden
stays, by which the outermost of the four bars are tied to the side pieces of
the framework. E, E, are diagonal struts of iron inserted between the two
inner bars C, C, and the stays D, D. F, F, are two wooden platforms, which
rest on the bars C, C, and are intended to support the persons by whom the
machine is to be worked. G is a vertical wheel of wood or other suitable
material, with a double-grooved periphery, which has for its axis the two ends
of a double crank H, H, which are attached to the sides of the frame-
work A, A, in manner to be presently explained. I, I, are two square-headed
screw bolts, with plain cylindrical terminations. K, K, are two plates, which
are attached to the outside of the framework A, A, and have two female
threaded orifices to suit the bolts I, I, for which purpose they are thickened a
little at the centre, the bolts being passed through the plates K, k, and the sides
of the framework, and screwed up to a proper tightness. Their plain cylin-
drical terminations take into sockets in the ends of the crank, and serve as
pins or pivots for the crank and the wheel attached to it to turn upon.
L, L, are two revolving shafts, which are fixed transversely at the ends of the
framework A, A, and connected with the wheel G by two endless straps or
bands, which pass round the grooves in the periphery of the wheel G and
corresponding grooves in the centre or near to the centre of the shafts. The
ends of these shafts are connected in manner following, with four cross arms
M, M, M, M, and four circles or wheels N, N, N, N-Iron pins, of the form
represented in the separate view, Figure 3, Sheet A, are passed through the
cross arms N and the side pieces of the framework A, A, and inserted by their
square ends d, d, into square recesses bored in the ends of the shafts L, L,
at the round parts e, e. These pins turn freely in orifices in the sides of the

page_text: framework and in the eccentrics N, the former of which have, for the sake
of greater strength at these places, iron plates f. f, attached to them inside
and outside. The square ends g, g, pass through the centre bosses of the
cross arms M, and are either burred up on the outside or secured there by
nuts and washers. From what has been stated it will be readily understood,
that when the shafts L, L, are caused to rotate by the turning of the wheel
G, they revolve freely on their bearings in the sides of the framework A,
and in the eccentrics N, but carry round with them the cross arms M, M,
which are made fast to them by the square parts (g, g,) of the connecting pins.
The four circles or wheels N, N, N, N, are fixed eccentrically with regard to
the cross arms, and may be kept in any required position by means of the
ropes and tackle (S, S, and T) herein-after described. 0, 0, 0, 0, are four
square frames of wood, which move round the four circles N, N, N, N, on
friction wheels Q, Q, Q, of a dished form (see Figure 1), which work in pairs
against ridges raised in the centres of the peripheries of the circles N, N.
P, P, are sixteen wooden frames attached to the four cross arms M, M, M, M,
and also to the frames 0, 0, 0, 0 (four to each arm and frame), in the manner
particularly shewn in Figure 2, Sheet B. The points at which the con-
tinuations of the shafts L, L, pass through the excentric circles N, N, N, N,
are at the same distances from the centres of these circles as the pins which
connect the frames P to the cross arms M and the square frames O are from
each other. R, R, are sixteen propelling flappers, consisting either of solid
plain surfaces or rectangular frames, covered over with parchment or any
other suitable material, which are attached by two small pins each to the outer
extremities of the frame P, P, and swing freely thereon. S, S, and T, are the
ropes and tackles, or system of pullies, by which the four eccentric circles are
controlled, and can have any required position given to them. V is a tail or
rudder for the lateral guidance of the apparatus, which consists either of
a solid plain surface or of a covered
a wedge or any other suitable form.
from the front of the apparatus for the
it should be to steer it by means of the rudder lines V, V, and series of
pulleys with which they are connected, and also to change the centre of
gravity by merely moving farther forward or backward according to circum-
stances. The platform W, W, is supported by two bars a, a, from the two
front feet a, a, of the apparatus, and by two other bars y, y, from the upper
part of the framework A, and it has a railing, z, all round.
framework, and in either case of
W, W, is a platform projecting
support of a person whose office
The mode of effecting aerial locomotion by the machine which has been thus
described is as follows:-The wheel G being turned round, imparts, through

page_text: the medium of the shafts L, L, a like rotary motion to the frames O and P
while, in consequence of these two sets of frames revolving on different centres,
the frames P continue to move always in the same parallel, and cause the
flappers R which swing from them to strike successively upon the air in a
direction the opposite to that of the lines of gravity and traction, or their
conjugate, and thereby to raise the machine and propel it through the air.
To prevent the flappers from acting too suddenly or forcibly, their movements
may be regulated by springs attached either to the flappers themselves or to the
frames from which they are suspended. When it is desired to vary the vertical
angle at which the frames P are placed with respect to the horizontal plane of the
apparatus, this is effected by shifting the position of the eccentric wheels N on
the continuation of the shaft L, by means of the ropes and tackle S, T, the frames
P being always parallel to a line drawn between the centres of the frame M
and the centres of the frames O, which revolve round the eccentric wheels N;
and when it is required to diverge to one side or the other, this is effected by
the steersman acting on the tail in the same way as on the rudder of a
ship or boat. Instead of the propelling flappers R, R, being attached to the
extremities of the frames P, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, they may be made
to swing on their centres by modifying this part of the apparatus in the
manner represented in Figures 4, 5, and 6, Sheet B. Instead also of the
apparatus being worked by means of wheels and bands, as aforesaid, it may
be worked by toothed wheels and pinions gearing into one another, according
to any of the well-known modes in common use for such purposes. x is a
luggage platform.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not limit myself to
the use of four sets of flappers only, as shewn in the Drawings, Figures I
and 2, for that any desirable number of such sets of flappers may be in-
cluded in one apparatus by repetitions of the arrangements before described;
nor to the employment of manual power alone to actuate the said flappers,
reserving to myself a right to substitute any other power that will answer the
purpose equally well. I declare further, that I do not claim any one of the
parts of the said apparatus as in and by itself new and original; but that
what I claim as of my Invention is, the said apparatus in the general arrange-
ment and combination of parts of which the same consists, and in their united
application, as aforesaid, to the obtaining of aerial locomotion,
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-
sixth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.
WILLIAM CROFTON (L.s.) MOAT.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-sixth day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid William Crofton Moat came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.