GB592220A - Improvements in airplanes - Google Patents

Abstract

592,220. Tailless aircraft. NORTHROP AIRCRAFT, Inc. Jan. 25, 1944, No. 1418. Convention date, Feb. 23, 1942. [Class 4] The wing of a tailless aircraft is of tapered and swept back plan-form, the loading being so arranged that the centre of gravity of the machine is sufficiently close to the aerodynamic centre of the wing to provide a longitudinal static stability of less than 0.03, i.e. the distance between these points being within 3 per cent of the length of the mean chord. The crew and load are so disposed that their weights balance about a transverse axis through the centre of gravity. A military aircraft embodying the features of the invention is illustrated, the crew being accommodated in compartments 53, 54, 56, 57, 60, 61, 62, upper and lower gun turrets 12, 13, 30, 31, being provided at the sides and front of the machine respectively, together with a rear turret 22. Contrarotating pusher airscrews are provided, driven by engines 63, 64, located on opposite sides of the transverse axis 50 through the centre of gravity, as are the fuel tanks 71, 72, while the bomb bays 80 ... 84, and racks for external bombs are located substantially on that axis. The .aerodynamic washout does not exceed 4 degrees at the wing tips, and the wing has a positive dihedral angle of not more than 2 degrees measured along the quarter chord line. The thickness ratio of the wing is approximately 20 per cent at the centre section and 15 per cent at the tips, while the projected wing area in side elevation is more than one half the projected area of the entire machine. Control surfaces for the machine comprise combined elevators and ailerons 3, flaps 4 which are raised when the surfaces 3 are depressed, and wing tip rudders 5. Specification 1784/11, [Class 4], is referred to.