When two aeroplanes are employed, as in the construction illustrated,
they are connected together by upright standards 8. These standards are
substantially rigid, being preferably constructed of wood and of equal
length, equally spaced along the front and rear edges of the aeroplane,
to which they are connected at their top and bottom ends by hinged
joints or universal joints of any suitable description. We have shown
one form of connection which may be used for this purpose in Figs. 4 and
5 of the drawings. In this construction each end of the standard 8
has secured to it an eye 9 which engages with a hook 10, secured to a
bracket plate 11, which latter plate is in turn fastened to the spar 3.
Diagonal braces or stay-wires 12 extend from each end of each standard
to the opposite ends of the adjacent standards, and as a convenient mode
of attaching these parts I have shown a hook 13 made integral with the
hook 10 to receive the end of one of the stay-wires, the other stay-wire
being mounted on the hook 10. The hook 13 is shown as bent down to
retain the stay-wire in connection to it, while the hook 10 is shown
as provided with a pin 14 to hold the staywire 12 and eye 9 in position
thereon. It will be seen that this construction forms a truss system
which gives the whole machine great transverse rigidity and strength,
while at the same time the jointed connections of the parts permit the
aeroplanes to be bent or twisted in the manner which we will now proceed
to describe.
15 indicates a rope or other flexible connection extending lengthwise
of the front of the machine above the lower aeroplane, passing under
pulleys or other suitable guides 16 at the front corners e and f of the
lower aeroplane, and extending thence upward and rearward to the upper
rear corners c and d, of the upper aeroplane, where they are attached,
as indicated at 17. To the central portion of the rope there is
connected a laterally-movable cradle 18, which forms a means for moving
the rope lengthwise in one direction or the other, the cradle being
movable toward either side of the machine. We have devised this cradle
as a convenient means for operating the rope 15, and the machine is
intended to be generally used with the operator lying face downward on
the lower aeroplane, with his head to the front, so that the operator's
body rests on the cradle, and the cradle can be moved laterally by the
movements of the operator's body. It will be understood, however, that
the rope 15 may be manipulated in any suitable manner.
19 indicates a second rope extending transversely of the machine along
the rear edge of the body portion of the lower aeroplane, passing under
suitable pulleys or guides 20 at the rear corners g and h of the lower
aeroplane and extending thence diagonally upward to the front corners a
and b of the upper aeroplane, where its ends are secured in any suitable
manner, as indicated at 21.
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