Improvements in Aerial Machines or Vehicles.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Dec., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 15th Sept., 1891-Accepted, 17th Oct., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Aerial Machines or Vehicles.
I, HORATIO FREDERICK PHILLIPS of Riverside, Long Ditton, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
An aerial machine according to this invention is sustained in the air, when in
rapid motion, in an endwise direction, by the air acting upon long narrow sustainers
placed transversely to the line of motion. These sustainers have flat or slightly
concave under surfaces and convex or partly convex upper surfaces. It is well
known that sustainers shaped in this way deflect the air upwards and thus cause a
partial vacuum over a portion of their upper surfaces when driven through the air.
This property is taken advantage of to sustain the weight of the machine or
vehicle. Instead of concentrating the whole of the sustainers in one series and
thus supporting the fish shaped body of the vehicle in one place only I divide the
necessary number of sustainers into two or more series and attach each series to
the body of the vehicle with a suitable longitudinal distance between. The air
after being acted upon by the first series of sustainers will be acted upon by the
second and so on. Aerial machines or vehicles constructed in this way will
possess not only greater stability but will not require so much power to propel
them at very high speeds.
To steer an aerial machine or vehicle to the right or left I employ a rudder or
rudders (either in conjunction with or without a fixed fin or keel) so arranged
that when the rudder or rudders are moved or actuated the machine or vehicle will
be forced out of the perpendicular, that is, its vertical axis will be inclined either
to the right or left the upper part of the machine being inclined towards the inner
side of the curve.
To effect the same purpose I sometimes use, instead of or in conjunction with a
rudder or rudders, a weight which may be moved across the machine transversely
to its line of motion. This weight when moved to either side will not only depress
but will, by the resistance of the air acting on the weight, check that side and
thus cause the machine to describe the curve required.
Dated thin 15th 1
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Aerial Machines or Vehicles.
I, HORATIO FREDERICK PHILLIPS of Riverside, Long Ditton, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :—
An aerial machine or vehicle according to this invention is sustained in the air,
when in rapid motion, in an end wise direction, by the air acting upon long narrow
blades or sustainers placed transversely to the line of motion. These blades or
sustainers (hereinafter called sustainers) have flat or slightly concave under
surfaces and convex or partly convex upper surfaces.
It is well known that

page_text: sustainers shaped in this way deflect the air upwards and thus cause a partial
vacuum over a portion of their upper surfaces when driven through the air. This
property is taken advantage of to sustain the weight of the machine or vehicle.
Instead of concentrating the whole of the sustainers in one series and thus
supporting the fish shaped body of the vehicle in one place only as heretofore,
I divide the necessary number of sustainers into two or more series and attach each
series to the body of the vehicle with a suitable longitudinal distance between.
The air after being acted upon by the first series of sustainers will be acted upon
by the second and so on.
Aerial machines or vehicles constructed in this way will
possess not only greater stability but will not require so much power to propel
them at very high speeds.
To steer an aerial machine or vehicle to the right or left I employ a rudder or
rudders (either in conjunction with or without a fixed fin or keel) so arranged that
when the rudder or rudders are moved or actuated the machine or vehicle will be
forced out of the perpendicular, that is, its vertical axis will be inclined either to
the right or left the upper part of the machine being inclined towards the inner
side of the curve.
To effect the same purpose I sometimes use, instead of or in conjunction with a
rudder or rudders, a weight which may be moved across the machine transversely
to its line of motion. This weight when moved to either side will not only depress
but will, by the resistance of the air acting on the weight, check that side and thus
cause the machine to describe the curve required.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively a side elevation and a plan of so much of an aerial
machine or vehicle as is necessary to illustrate my invention.
1 is the body of the machine or vehicle provided with suitable propelling
apparatus not shown and 2, 2 are the long narrow sustainers of suitable material
for example wood, whereby the machine when in rapid motion, is sustained in the
air. The sustainers are made of any suitable length and width say for example
15 feet long and 6 inches wide and are arranged at suitable distances apart, say for
example 2 inches, so that air may act independently upon each without disturbance
by the others, each blade having its upper surface made convex or partly convex
so that air striking such upper surface will be deflected upward thus causing a
partial vacuum over a portion of the upper surface of the blade and aiding the air
below to support the weight as described in the Specification of former Letters
Patent granted to me viz. No. 13768 of 1884. These substainers are, according to
this invention, arranged in two or more series, according to the length of the
body 1, arranged one behind the other in the longitudinal direction of the machine
or vehicle, a longitudinal space 3 being left between them. In the drawings two
series of sustainers are shown, the length of the body 1 being say 30 feet. These
sustainers may he fixed in position in any suitable manner. In the example shown
they are held in place by a number of vertical bars 4 of angular form in cross
section so as to offer but small resistance to their passage through the air, these
bars being arranged in pairs and connected by a series of bars 5 to which the
sustainers 2 are fixed. 6 is a rudder by which the machine or vehicle can be forced
out of the perpendicular. This rudder, or there may be more than one, may
advantageously be placed at the top of the foremost series of sustainers 2 as shown,
but it, or they, may be placed in any other position provided that when actuated
the vertical axis of the machine will be inclined to the right or left as required.
The rudder is shown as fixed to a spindle 7 provided with a lever arm 8 by which
it can be operated when necessary. When a weight is used either alone or in con-
junction with a rudder or rudders for steering purposes, it may be mounted upon a
transverse bar 9 arranged at the base of the foremost series of sustainers as indicated
in dotted lines, suitable means as for example a screw threaded shaft, being provided
for adjusting the position of the weight in a transverse direction when necessary
for the purpose hereinbefore mentioned.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In an aerial machine or vehicle of the kind in which long narrow sustainers
having convex or partly convex upper surfaces and placed transversely to the line
of motion are used for sustaining the machine or vehicle in the air, arranging the
said blades or sustainers in two or more series fixed to the body of the machine or
vehicle with a longitudinal distance between them substantially as herein described
for the purpose set forth.
2. In an aerial machine or vehicle having sustainers arranged as specified in the
preceding claim, a rudder or rudders so arranged that when the same is or are
moved out of the normal position, the machine will be forced out of the perpen-
dicular substantially as hereinbefore described for the purpose specified.
3. An aerial machine or vehicle having sustainers arranged as specified in
Claim 1, and provided with a weight capable of being moved across the machine or
vehicle transversely to its line of motion substantially as herein described for the
purpose specified.
Dated thin 15th dow of Cantambor 1901
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.