rudder 31 is neutral or substantially parallel with the aeroplanes 1 and 2; but its rear edge may be moved upward or downward, so as to be above or below the normal plane of said rudder through the mechanism provided for that purpose. It will be seen that the springs 36 will resist any tendency of the forward edge of the rudder to move in either direction, so that when force is applied to the rear edge of said rudder the longitudinal ribs 35 bend, and the rudder thus resents a concave surface to the action of the wind either above or below its normal plane, said surface presenting a small angle of incidence at its forward portion and said angle of incidence rapidly increasing toward the rear. This greatly increases the efficiency of the rudder as compared with a plane surface of equal area. By regulating the pressure on the upper and lower sides of the rudder through changes of angle and curvature in the manner described a turning movement of the main structure around its transverse axis may be effected, and the course of the machine may thus be directed upward or downward at the will of the operator and the longitudinal balance thereof maintained.
Contrary to the usual custom, we place the horizontal rudder in front of the aeroplanes at a negative angle and employ no horizontal tail at all. By this arrangement we obtain a forward surface which is almost entirely free from pressure under ordinary conditions of flight, but which even if not moved at all from its original position becomes an efficient lifting-surface whenever the speed of the machine is accidentally reduced very much below the normal, and thus largely counteracts that backward travel of the center of pressure on the aeroplanes which has frequently been productive of serious injuries, by causing the machine to turn downward and forward and strike the ground head-on. We are aware that a forward horizontal rudder of different construction has-been usual in combination with a supporting-surface and a rear horizontal rudder; but this combination was not intended to effect and does not effect the object which we obtain by the arrangement hereinbefore described.
We have used the term "aeroplane" in this specification and the appended claims to indicate the supporting surface or supporting surfaces by means of which the machine is sustained in the air, and by this term we wish to be understood as including an suitable supporting-surface, which normally is substantially flat, although of course when constructed of cloth or other flexible fabric, as we prefer to construct them, these surfaces may receive more or less curvature from the resistance of the air, as indicated in Fig 3.
We do not wish to be understood as limiting ourselves strictly to the precise details of construction hereinbefore described and show in the accompanying drawings, as it is obvious that these details may be modified without departing from the principles of our invention. For instance, while we prefer the construction illustrated in which each aeroplane is given a twist along its entire length in order to set its opposite lateral margins at different angles we have already pointed out that our invention is not limited to this form of construction, since it is only necessary to move the lateral marginal portions, and where these portions alone are moved only those upright standards which support the movable portion require flexible connections at their ends.
Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is—
1. In a flying-machine, a normally flat aeroplane having lateral marginal portions capable of movement to different positions above or blow the normal plane of the body of the aeroplane, such movement being about an axis transverse to the line of flight, whereby said lateral marginal portions may be moved to different angles relatively to the normal plane of the body of the aeroplane, so as to resent to the atmosphere different angles of incidence, and means for so moving said, lateral marginal portions, substantially as described.
2. In a flying—machine, the combination, with two normally parallel aeroplanes, superposed the one above the other, of upright standards connected said planes at their margins the connections between the standards an aeroplanes at the lateral portions of the aeroplanes being by means of flexible joints, each of said aeroplanes having lateral marginal portions capable of movement to different positions above or below the normal plane of the body of the aeroplane, such movement being about an axis transverse to the line of flight, whereby said lateral marginal portions may be moved to different angles the aeroplane, so as to present to the atmosphere different angles of incidence, the standards maintaining a fixed distance between the portions of the aeroplanes which they connect, and means for imparting such movement to the lateral marginal portions of the aeroplanes, substantially as described.
3. In a flying—machine, a normally flat aeroplane having lateral marginal portions capable of movement to different positions above or below the normal plane of the body of the aeroplane, such movement being about (an axis transverse to the line of flight, whereby said lateral marginal portions may be moved to different angles relatively to the normal plane of the body of the aeroplane, and also to different angles relatively to each other, so as to resent to the atmosphere different angles of incidence, and means for si-
