CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE APPARATUS AND MACHINERY FOR CONVEYING LETTERS, GOODS, AND PASSENGERS FROM FLACE TO PLACE THROUGH THE AIR, PART OF 'WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER MACHINERY TO BE USED ON WATER OR ON LAND
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SAMUEL HENSON, of No. 26, New City Chambers, Bishopsgate Street, in the
City of London, Engineer, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her prescut most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the GreatSeal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster,the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Samuel Henson, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege, and
authority, that I, the said William Samuel Henson, my exors, adiñiors.
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Samuel Henson, my
exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her
said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCOMOTIVE APPARATUS AND MACHINERY FOR CONVEYING LETTERS,
GOODS, AND PASSENGERS FROM FLACE TO PLACE THROUGH THE AIR, PART OF 'WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO LOCOMOTIVE AND OTHER MACHINERY TO BE USED
ON WATER OR ON LAND;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said William Samuel Henson, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, 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, I, the said
William Samuel Henson, do hereby declare thatthe nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):
The Invention relates, first, to the constructing of locomotive machinery
and apparatus for conveying letters, goods, and passengers from place to place
through the air; and, secondly, to improvements in constructing steam boilers
for the generating of steam to give motion to locomotive machinery in the
air, and also locomotive and other machinery used on water or on land; and
in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me; and in order that
the description hereafter given may be rendered clear, I will first shortly
explain the principle on which the machine is constructed. If any light and
flat or nearly flat article be projected or thrown edgewise in a slightly inclined
position, the same will rise on the air till the force exerted is expended, when
the article so thrown or projected will descend; and it will readily be con-
ceived, that if the article so projected or thrown possessed in itself a continuous
power or force equal to that used in throwing or projecting it, the article
would continue to ascend so long as the forward part of the surface was
upwards in respect to the hinder part, and that such article, when the power
was stopped, or when the inclination was reversed, would descend by gravity
only if the power was stopped, or by gravity aided by the force of the power
contained in the article, if the power be continued, thus imitating the flight
of a bird.
Now,the first part of my Invention consists of an apparatus so constructed as
to offer averyextended surface or plane of a light yet strongconstruction, which
will have the same relation to the general machine which the extended wings
of a bird have to the body when a bird is skimming in the air; but in place
of the movement or power for onward progress being obtained bymovement of
the extended surface or plane, as is the case with the wings of birds, I apply
suitable paddlewheels or other proper mechanical propellers worked bya steam
or other sufficientlylight engine,and thus obtain the requisite power for onward
movement to the plane or extended surface; and in order to give control as to
the upward and downward direction of such a machine, I apply a tail to the
extended surface, which is capable of being inclined or raised, so that when
the power is acting to propel the machine, by inclining the tail upwards, the
resistance offered by the air will cause the machine to rise on the air; and, on

page_text: the contrary, when the inclination of the tail is reversed, the machine will
immediately be propelled downwards, and pass through a plane more or less
inclined to the horizon as the inclination of the tail is greater or less; and in
order to guide the machine as to the lateral direction which it shall take, I
apply a vertical rudder or second tail, and according as the same is inclined
in one direction or the other, so will be the direction of the machine.
Having thus given the general principles on which the machinery and
apparatus, according to the first part of my Invention, are constructed, I may
remark, that it will be evident that the principal objects to be considered in
the construction of such a locomotive machine are lightness with strength in
respect to the machine itself, and lightness with respect to quantity of power
offered by the engine employed; and I would here state, that although I shall
hereafter describe a particular construction of machine and engine to be used
in propelling the same, yet I do not confine myself to the details thereof, as
variations may be made, so long as the general principle of construction be
retained.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A.
Figure 1 represents a machine and apparatus constructed according to the
first part of my Invention, the covering fabric being removed, in order that
the manner of framing the parts together may be more readily traced.
Figure 2 shows the same view of the machine, with the covering applied,
Figure 3 shows an underside view of the machine, with the covering fabric in
its place; the view shown by this Figure being one offered to the viewer when
standing below the machine, and looking upwards; the other Figures of
these Drawings showing separate parts, in order that the details of construction
may be more fully understood than could be the case by simply examining the
perspective Drawings of the machine shown at Figures 1, 2, and 3; and some
of these details are shown on a larger scale than the same parts in the other
Figures. Figure 4 is a side view of the main frame or extended surface, of
which the machine is principally constructed. Figure 5 shows a plan of the
tail for controlling the direction of the machine in its upward and downward
direction. Figure 6 shows a side view of the same tail. Figure 7 shows one
of the framed bars which run from front to back of the machine, which I
prefer to be of wood or bamboo, in order that I may obtain lightness with
sufficient strength. Figure 8 shows two sections of the hollow bars of wood,
or other suitable material or materials for the bars, of which the main frame is
composed. Figure 9 shows a plan and side view of the mode by which I fix
and tighten the suspending wires and wire braces or rigging of the machine

page_text: On an examination of the Drawings it will be seen that the machine consists
of an extended surface or plane extending on either side of a car or vessel, in
which the engine, fuel, passengers, goods, and letters are carried, the nature
of which vessel or car is more clearly shown in the plan and side section,
Figures 10 and 11, which are on an enlarged scale when compared with the other
Figures of these Drawings, such car or vessel being framed together with a
view to strength and lightness; and the outline shows the position of a steam-
boiler and engines for giving motion to the propelling machinery hereafter
explained, such engine and boiler being fixed rather forward in the car or
.vessel, because from experiment I have found it desirable that the weight
carried by such a description of locomotive machine should be forward; and it
will be seen that the car or vessel has three wheels, in order that when the car
comes to the earth it may run freely without injury, and owing to the great
controul which the tails offer in governing such a machine in descending, the
car may be caused to come to the earth in so flat an incline that in taking the
earth very little, if any, shock will be perceived by the passengers. In the car
two masts are fixed, which rise above the upper part of the car, as is shown,
and from the upper parts of these masts the two surfaces or planes on either
side of the car are suspended, and the framing of those surfaces or planes are
braced to the lower ends of such masts; thus, in fact, making the whole machine
as one trussed beam of very light construction, yet offering the requisite
stiffness for its purpose. I have not thought it necessary to show the interior
arrangement of the car, as the same will readily be fitted up according as it is
more intended for passengers or for goods, or otherwise. The suspending
of the framing is by numerous wires, which I prefer to be of an oval section,
so as to offer as little resistance as possible in passing through the air, such
wires proceeding in various directions, as is shown in the Drawings. A is the
fore mast and B the hind-mast; from the upper parts of these masts descend
suspending wires (1), (1), to the points (2), (2), of the lateral main bars C, D,
on either side of the car, thus suspending those main bars C, D, from the masts;
and there are other suspending wires (3), (3), which, proceeding from the
upper parts of the masts, cross each other, and are made fast at the same
points (2), (2), of the main bars C, D; and there are corresponding bracing
wires proceeding from the lower ends of the masts to the same points
(2), (2), of the main bars, as is shown; and there are also suspending
wires (4), (4), descending from the mast B, and affixed to the hinder
projecting frame E, E, which carries the tails of the machine, (5), (5),
are suspending wires from the upper part of the foremast A to the front part
of the car. (7) is a suspending wire affixed at the upper part of the fore-mast;

page_text: it is made fast to the hinder framing of the car. (8) is a similar suspending
wire made fast to the upper part of the hind-mast B, and also to the fore
part of the car; and there is a wire brace (9) affixed to the upper part of each
mast, and between the two masts above the car is stretched a sail, shown in
Figure 2, which facilitates the lateral steering of the machine. (10), (10),
are suspending wires from the masts to the sides of the car, and (11), (11),
are braces to correspond with the suspending wires (10). At the points
(2), (2), of the main bars C, D, on either side of the car, are uprights F, F,
affixed to the main bars C, D. Ascending above and decending below those
bars, and from the upper ends of these uprights, proceed suspending wires
(12), (12), to the main bars C, D, near the sides of the car; and there are
corresponding wire braces (13), (13), from the lower ends of the uprights to
the main bars near the car, as is shown. From the upper and lower ends
of the uprights also proceed other suspending bracing wires (14), (15), which
are respectively made fast at the points (16), (17), of the main bars C, D;
and there corresponding brace wires proceeding from the points (16), (17),
to the lower ends of the uprights F, as are shown in the Drawings; and it
will be seen that the two uprights F, on either side of the car, are braced
together by diagonal brace wires (18), (18); the object of all which sus-
pending and brace wires is to obtain great stiffness and strength with lightness
of structure. G is the central main bar, and it will be seen that the main
bars, C, D, G, are fixed together by means of the end picces H, H; and it
will be understood that the inain bars C, D, are made hollow in order to
obtain lightness and stiffness, and the main bar G is shown to be a plate of
wood on edge. In the front of the projecting planes, on either side of the car,
there is fixed the front bar I; and it will be seen that the bars C, D, G, and
1, are combined into one framing with the car by means of the framed beams
or bars H, J, K, and the whole of the under and upper surfaces of the
projecting planes are to be covered with a strong close fabric. I prefer strong
oiled silk for this purpose; and such coverings are affixed to light frames
similar to the framed beams J, K, at the points (19), (19), which are capable
of sliding to and fro on the main bars C, D, and G, the parts of the covering
fabrics being fixed to the main framing at the beams H, J, K. Thus the
portion of the covering from the outer end of either side plane can be slided
from the beam or bar K to the outer, and the next portion of the covering
can be slided back from the beam or framed bar J to the framed bar K, and
the next part of the covering can be slided back to the framed bar or beam J;
and this is accomplished by means of cords N from the windlass L, in the
fore part of the car, which cords pass over the pulley M, M, the cords being

page_text: suitably connected with the sliding frames to which the covering fabrics are
affixed, the object being that the coverings may be drawn up when the
machine is not in use. The tail which governs the machine in its
upward and downward movements is affixed to the axis O, the euds of which
move in bearings at O', and the tail is suspended from the upright P
which is also affixed to the axis O; this tail consisting of three bars, Q, Q, Q,
and the smaller bars Q', which are all affixed to the axis O, which bars
are covered with a suitable fabric, and I prefer strong oiled silk for such
purpose. These bars are capable of being separated or opened out by means
of the cords R, R, passing partly round pulley R' to the car, where they are
made fast; and the bars Q are capable of being drawn together by the cords
S, S, which pass partly round pulleys S', and thence go to the car, where
they are made fast. The requisite up-and-down motion is communicated to
this tail by means of the cord T, which is made fast at either end of the
upright P. It then passes partly around the pulleys V at the upper and
lower ends of the hind-mast B; the cord then takes several turns around the
windlass or barrel U, whichis worked by any convenient means, which I have
not thought it recessary to show, as the same will readily be applied by a
mechanic; and according as the windlass or barrel Uis turned in one direction
or the other, so will be the inclination of the tail, and such inclination will be
more or less upwards or downwards, according to the directions desired to be
obtained to the machine. I have not thought it necessary to enter into every
detail of the means of framing and connecting the parts together, as these parts
of the construction will readily be performed by properworkmen, taking care that
all parts are well and strongly joined. I would here observe that a machine con-
structed as I have above described may havepropellers of various constructions
applied thereto, but I believe paddle wheels with oblique paddles will be most
suitable for the purpose. I will therefore now describe the application of such
paddle wheels,and the best means Iamacquainted with for givingmotionthereto.
W,W,are two paddle wheels, their shafts or axes turning in bearings carried by
the main bar D and the bar X, as is shown; the paddles of these paddle wheels
being set at about an augle of 45°, to their respective axesof motion, and to the
axes of these wheels are affixed the pulleys W1, which receive the endlessbandor
cord Y, which receive its motion from the steam or other proper engine carried
by the car; and although I do not confine myself to the useofany particularcon.
structionofengineforsuch purpose, I willhereafterexplain the best construction
of steam-engine I am acquainted with for the purpose of giving motion to suit-
able propellers for a locomotive engine constructed according to the first part
my Invention. Z is the lateral steering tail or rudder, which consists of a
of

page_text: triangular frame covered with fabric, as before explained in respect to the
other parts; this rudder is hung on the upright P, and is caused to move in
either direction by means of cords passing into the car, such cords being affixed
to the ends of the bar. In starting the machine, I prefer to do so from an
inclined plane or the side of a hill, and I allow the machine to run forward
down the incline, the propellers being first set in motion, when it will be found
that in a short time they will act sufficiently upon the air to cause the machine
to leave the incline and proceed in any desired direction. In constructing the
machine above described the following are the best proportions which I am
enabled to lay down from the various experiments which I have been enabled
to make; at the same time, I do not confine myself thereto :-There should be
about one square foot for each half pound weight of the machine, including
machinery, fuel, and load; and the following are the dimensions of the machine
I am making,andwhich will weigh about three thousand pounds. The surface
of the planes on either side of the car will measure four thousand five hundred
square feet,and the tail one thousand five hundred more, with a steam-engine
(high pressure) of twenty-five to thirty horse power.
Having thus described the nature of a locomotive machine constructed
according to the first part of my Invention, I will proceed to explain a steam-
engine shown in Drawing B,which I have arranged for giving motion to suitable
propellers, and I will also describe my improved construction of steam boiler
for supplying such or other construction of steam-engine with steam, which
improved construction of steam boiler constitutes the second part of my Inven-
tion. Figure 12 represents a front view of a steam-engine constructed suit-
ably for giving motion to the propellers of a locomotive machine such as is
above described. Figure 13 shews a side view thereof, and the Drawing also
shows the steam-engine in connexion with a steam boiler, the peculiar con-
struction of which constitutes the second part of my Invention, Figure 13
showing a side section of such boiler. Figure 14 shows a front section thereof.
Figure 15 shows a plan of the boiler in section, taken just above the fire bars;
and Figure 16 shows a plan in section, taken at the upper part just above the
series of conical vessels of which the boiler is composed. The other separate
views show the description of steam cocks used for admitting the steam to flow
from the boiler into the steam cylinders, and from the steam cylinders into the
atmosphere. a, a, are the steam cylinders, each cylinder having four steam
cocks b.b, and two c, c, two (b,b,) for admitting steam into the steam cylinders,
and two (c, c.) for permitting the ste un to escape into the atmosphere. d, d,
are the steam pipes from the boiler to the steam cylinders; and e, e, are the

page_text: eduction steam pipes from the steam cylinders; f, f, are the piston rods, the
cross heads of which are guided by the rods g,g; to the cross heads are attached
the connecting rods h, k, which give motion to the cranks i, i, affixed on the
main or driving shaft j,on which there is a suitable drum or pully k, for giving
motion to a suitable baud or cord for driving the propellers, as shown in the
Drawings. 1,,m,are rods worked by excentrics for giving motion to the plugs
of the steam cocks for admitting the steam into and from the steam cylinders;
and n, n, are pump rods for pumping water into the boiler. 00, are two
uprights or pillars between the engines and the bearings of the main shaft.
The boiler consists of a peculiar arrangement of a series of conical vessels,
P, p, p, and 94. The conical vessels p, p, p, are affixed at the lower ends
into water pipes r, r, 7, thus dividing the boiler into two compartments, each
of which has its grate of fire bars, as is shown, and the vessels p, p, are con
nected to the vessel q, y, by means of short pipes p'. The upper ends of the
conical vessels p,p,enter into and are affixed to the cylindrical vessels s, 8, and
t, the three vessels s,s, and t, being connected together, as is shown. The
conical vessels q,q, are short vessels which are affixed to and enter into the
vessels a, s,and t, as is shewn. The steam passes off at the valve v to the steam
pipe, and the quantity passing away from the boiler may be regulated at
pleasure by the valve. The boiler is enclosed in the case u, u, as is shown, in
which are found openings for the fire doors and ash-pit doors, w, w, being the
flues which convey off the products of combustion to the chimney. The object
of this arrangement of boiler is to obtain great strength with lightness, at the
same time extensive heating surfaces, in order to obtain the greatest power in
the least space. I prefer to construct such steam boiler of copper, the screw
joints being of brass, but I do not confine myself thereto. It will be evident
that by thus combining a series of conical vessels p, p, p, and q, q, q, with the
pipes and the vessels s, s, and t, a very simple construction of boiler will be
obtained, and owing to the larger parts of the conical vessels being upwards
the heat of the furnace will be most advantageously applied. I would remark,
in respect to this part of my Invention, that I do not confiue myself to the
precise details shown,provided the peculiar combination of conical vessels with
the other parts as above described be retained.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I
am acquainted with for performing the same, I would have it understood that
what I claim is,-
First, the mode of constructing locomotive apparatus and machinery for
conveying passengers, goods, and letters through the air as above described.

page_text: And, secondly, I claim the mode herein explained of constructing steam
boilers applicable to locomotive machinery, such as above described, and also
engines used on land or water.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Samuel Henson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One Thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-eighth day of March
in the year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid William Samuel Henson came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid,and all and everything therein contained andspecified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.