IMPROVEMENTS IN AERIAL NAVIGATION, AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Bristow Hunt at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st August
1871. A communication from abroad by Robert Courtemanche,
of Paris, France.
I, BRISTOW HUNT, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AERIAL NAVIGATION, AND IN APPARATUS
CONNECTED THEREWITH," (a communication to me from abroad by Robert
Courtemanche, of Paris, France,) to be as follows:-
The true question of aerial navigation consists merely in the form or
construction of an apparatus having power to elevate, lower, and direct
itself in the air by a force which it derives from the resistance of the
air itself. All depends on the special agency of this vessel or aerial
ship, and on the manner in which it fulfils the conditions required for
this kind of locomotion.

page_text: placed beneath for elevating, and a rudder placed at the front. It has
at the sides (two at the front and two behind) four inclined planes
or wings, which according to the requirements are either turned down
and fixed to the sides or raised and extended by means of a system of
cords and pulleys by men placed upon seats on a foot bridge situated
below the vessel. The ship will also be provided with four supports,
placed two beneath the rear end and two below the front. This ap-
paratus will be about one hundred and sixty feet long exclusive of the
rudder and the posterior screw. Its greatest width will be about forty-
five feet, and its greatest height including the foot bridge will be about
fifty.s
.seven feet. These dimensions will be such that in all the transverse
sections it will present an oval or egg-shaped form. The fish-like form
which is given to it is that which is best adapted for cleaving the air
without much effort, to rise easily and to allow of advantageous workings
of the screws or rudder and the wings or inclined planes. The greatest
width of the vessel will be about two-thirds of its height in order that
the ascending screws may be in free air, so as to act effectively.
The vessel will be constructed as follows:-Two large pieces of timber
will form keels one below and one above, each one extending the whole
length. These keels meet and are joined together at the front and rear
and consequently form the contour of the vessel. From these keels
wooden beams forming stanchions extend from the lower keel to the
upper one. On the stanchions as upon a trellis is stretched cloth coated
with oil varnish, consequently at the same time that the apparatus
possesses sufficient solidity to overcome the resistance of the air, it is
also in two parts (there being left in the centre of the vessel an open
space wherein the engine is placed), which by the employment here
made of them will be of great utility and at the same time of no great
weight. The underneath part of the engine room will be covered with
cloth coated with oil varnish. It is advisable to cover this part in order
to prevent the air from being drawn in and thus endangering the
equilibrium of the vessel especially in ascending.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTS COMPOSING THE ATMOSPHERIC SHIP.
Engine Room.-The engine room will be situated at about seventy-
seven feet from the rear and about sixty-four feet from the front and
will consequently be about nineteen feet long. It will be situated at
about thirteen feet above the keel, and being at this height will be about

page_text: thirty-two feet broad. Under this chamber there will be a space which
following the curve of the ship will have the wooden keel for its bottom,
and in this space will be placed the gearing for transmitting motion
from the engine to the screws, and also the water for feeding the boiler.
In this chamber there will be two doors which communicate with the
interior of the front and rear parts. It is by these doors that the aërostats
or air balloons intended to buoy up the vessel are introduced. This part
of the vessel will be plated with zinc, iron, or other similar material, in
case ashes from the burning fuel should fall therein.
Engine. It is upon the steam engine that the Inventor relies for
realising the greatest projects of the age, an engine driven by super-
heated steam, but at the same time he reserves to himself the right to
employ such other engine as is capable of giving as good or better
results. It is believed that about fifty horse-power will suffice, but any
other power either more or less may be employed. The pistons which
actuate the screws will be each independent of the others, because they
should be able to be driven at equal or different speeds. The piston
which actuates the posterior screw will be arranged in such a manner
as to require less steam than those which actuate the rising screws.
The fuel bunkers will be placed at each side of the engine or notched
slides. This system will serve to maintain the equilibrium according
as they are placed nearer or further apart when the ship in tacking
leans more to one side than the other. The tube of the chimney raised
about three feet above the vessel will be surmounted by a conical cover,
which in ascending will prevent the air from being forced down the tube
which would slacken the draft of the furnace. It will be sloped a little
to the rear, because when sailing with the wind at a slower speed than
the latter the smoke emitted would be driven against the steersman who
would be thereby inconvenienced.
Ascending Screws.-The two ascending screws of the ship will be
exactly similar and both situated beneath the ship each at about twenty-
four feet from the centre. Their vanes will be each about twenty-three
feet long by nine feet cight inches wide, their greatest width being at
the middle, they will consequently have the form of an elongated
ellipse. The distance between the wings or vanes of the two screws
will be about one foot seven inches. They are made with five or six
vanes set at an angle of about thirty-five degrees, because it is known
that to move a heavy mass, these screws have more power and also

page_text: more uniformity in their movement. There will be a distance of about
six feet six inches between the bottom of the ship and that part of the
screws nearest to it. The shafts of the screws are made of wood and
the wings of varnished cloth stretched on a frame of wood and cords.
Thus at the same time that they are lighter than if they were made of
wood they will be also more elastic, and as they are intended to act in
an elastic medium, the air, they will be preferable. Upon the vanes at a
distance of about twelve feet from the shaft are rods of iron which
connect them to the shaft at about nine inches from the foot bridge.
These rods serve to give them the solidity required for raising the
aerial ship. Special precautions must be taken to prevent the heating
of the shafts at the places where there is friction. This may be effected
by means of an iron ring carrying friction wheels rolling on a circular
rail, or by any other convenient means.
Posterior Screw.-This screw will be situated at the rear end of the 1
ship, and have four wings of about twelve feet ten inches long and six
feet five inches wide, and inclined at an angle of forty-five degrees.
This inclination is preferred as offering the greatest advantages for
speed. The construction will be the same as that of the lower screws.
Rudder. The rudder will be fastened to the ship at the lower and
upper keels by hinges at about six feet distance from the extreme
front, by which means it can always turn with facility. It will
have a somewhat triangular form. Its breadth from the extremity of
one of the branches or horns to the front or bow will be about thirty
feet, and its breadth from the point of the bow to the part nearest the
ship about seventeen feet. Its construction will consists of a frame,
over which cloth is stretched. A flag will be placed at each of its
extremities, and will serve to indicate to the steersman the direction of
the rudder. The steersman will be placed on a seat situated at the top
of the engine room. He will actuate the rudder by means of a wheel
similar to that which is employed for the rudders of vessels, acting by
cords attached to a bar of a sufficient length placed crosswise just above
the place where it is fixed to the upper keel. In front of the steersman
will be placed a glass screen bent backwards.
Inclined Planes or Wings.-On each side of the vessel will be a
placed inclined planes or wings. These wings will be about thirty-
two feet long and twenty-two feet high. Their form will be that of a
parallelogram, rounded on the lower side in front by reason of the

page_text: form they should present when raised. They will be constructed of sail
cloth coated with oil varnish and stretched on a frame. The front wings
will be on the same line as the rear wings. Those at the front part will
be from the top at a distance of about thirteen feet, and from the
bottom at one foot eight inches from the engine room. Those at the
rear part will be from the top at about 6 feet 6 inches, and from the
bottom at about seventeen feet. The line on which they are situated
will be at about twenty-five feet six inches height from the lower keel
in their horizontal position. At the place where the wings are jointed
to the ship there will be a space nearly double that where the wings
end; by these means they will have an inclination which will permit
the air to have access to the screws. This small interval will also serve
when the wings are arranged for descending to allow the air to pass, and
consequently to prevent the shocks which would be produced by its
passing over the edge. At the place where they are fixed to the ship at
their rear end there will be a mechanism consisting of a ring sliding on
a rod of iron of about twelve fect ten inches long fixed to the ship,
and which allows of their rising and falling by means of a pulley
situated above this mechanism. They can by these means be elevated
on this side to about six feet six inches above the horizontal line, or be
depressed below it about the same distance; the wings can therefore
form an angle of twelve degrees in either direction. On their lower
sides there will be three hooks extending about three feet, to which are
attached ropes which serve to extend them; these ropes pass to the
extremity of three other rods situated at a height of about six feet six
inches, about one foot six inches above the wings, and about twelve feet
ten inches long, and from thence to the pulley situated on the side of
the vessel, and at a height from this latter rod of about nine feet eight
inches. The use of these rods which facilitate the work of raising the
wings will be readily understood. These wings will be moved by means
of a system of cords and pulleys worked by the windlass men. They are
provided with three ropes, which passing each by a rod and from thence
to the pulley serve to extend them, other ropes attached below serve
to hold them up. The ropes which serve to raise them pass between the
ship and the wings, and thence to a pulley situated about the centre of
the height of the foot bridge.

page_text: wings must be raised a notch higher all together, the lower screws must
then be nearly stopped, and the rear screw stopped entirely. The ship
then commences to descend, but with the wings extended, and offering a
resistance, it follows their inclination and descends, sliding as it were on
the air. If, on the other hand, it is desired to effect an ascent with
their help they must be lowered to the bottom notch, and the three
screws being in motion this propulsion causing the ship to advance will
cause it to follow the inclination which has been given to the wings.
The aërial ship then resting on the surface of the wings relieves the
rising screws of a weight equal to that which the wings support, and
which will be greater in proportion to the speed of the ship.
Foot Bridge. The foot bridge will be about ninety-six feet long over
all, and about four feet ten inches wide. It will be situated under the
ship throughout the whole length of the keel, and will serve for the
windlass men who have the management of the wings. Its construction
consists of a plank suspended by cords and fixed to bars at the middle
and ends. The windlass men will be seated on the rope seats, and will
have before them two windlasses, one of which is for working the
mechanism of the wings, and the other for expanding and contracting
them. As in either one or other of these movements they coil on the
windlass an equal portion of the cord, the same cord may be attached
at once to two opposide points and pass round the windlass. In order
that in letting out or reefing the wings they may know properly the
amount of spread that is given to them the ropes are graduated. In
order to ascertain the movements of the ship and rectify them by means
of their wings, they will have before them a spirit level.
Supports. The ship will have four supports. They will have when
raised a length of about sixteen feet, and in their elevation will make
an angle of about one hundred degrees with the foot bridge. In the
transverse section the angle which they will make will be one hundred
and five degrees, with this spread sufficient to insure the equilibrium
of the ship; they will leave the rising screws at a height of about six
feet six inches from the ground. The supports will be of wood, and
fastened by an axis to each corner of the foot bridge. The wood of
which they are made should be slightly flexible, and further, the lower
ends of these supports should contain a strong helical spring. All these
precautions will prevent the occurrence (when the ship takes the
ground) of any shocks which might damage it. The rods bearing on

page_text: the helical springs will be about one foot six inches long. They are
also provided with an arrangement, which, when the ship is no longer
on the ground will allow them to be raised along the sides. This system
consists of a bolt or rod of iron which slides in to or out of the support
by means of a small helical spring. The spring will communicate with
the second part of the support by means of a cord passing round a
small pulley fixed on the foot bridge, and thence to a ring fixed to
the axis of the support. When the ship rises the supports extended
by their springs, which are intended to deaden the shock, withdrawing
the bolt and rendered immovable, they only then require to be raised.
This manoeuvre will be effected by the windlass men by means of ropes
passing through a staple, situated slightly above the place where the
support reaches.
Envelopes or Covering.-In the front and rear parts I place aërostats
or air balloons of the same form and filled with hydrogen gas. These
aërostats will serve to lighten the ship considerably. The envelope or
covering made of twilled taffeta, covered with gutta percha coated with
linseed oil varnish, will possess all the necessary solidity.
Nevertheless the Inventor does not wish to restrict himself from
using other materials which may be as solid and as light. For greater
security instead of placing one envelope only on each part several may
be used. In this manner if one should become broken or burst there
would be nothing to fear, because the ship could easily be placed in
the desired position by causing the rising screw beneath that part where
the escape of gas took place to turn rather faster. The envelopes of
each part will both communicate with their manometer near the engine
room, where it can be seen through a glass, so as to indicate at any
time their degree of distension. Before communicating with the mano-
meter they have valves opening outwards; the manometer itself may
also have one, although it is not considered necessary, because as it
does not ordinarily rise to a height of more than three hundred and
twenty feet, which is more than sufficient for aerial travelling, the
expansion of the gas produced by the rarefaction of the air will not
take place. But if an increase of the elevation should be necessary
then all the envelopes would relieve themselves of their excess of gas.
Front and Rear Parts.-I claim the right instead of making these
parts of cloth covered with oil varnish stretched upon a frame to make
them of thin sheets of aluminium, copper, or other suitable metal.

page_text: Summary. Such being the nature of the construction of the ship
and its different arrangements, it will be easily seen that it unites all
the conditions which an atmospheric ship should fulfil.
By means of the mechanism which is adapted to the wings, and which
allows of their being raised and lowered so as to give them a certain
inclination, it will be easy to keep the ship always in a longitudinal
position. If it be discovered that for the descents effected by sliding
on the air and also for oblique ascents it is better for the ship to take
the proper angle itself (for a descent for example) the rear rising screw
should then be turned rather faster, and the ship finding itself thus more
raised at that side would slide more or less swiftly according to the
inclination given to it. The same may be applied also to ascents, but
in this case it is the front rising screw that must be driven faster.