GB962608A - Captive flying platform unit - Google Patents

Abstract

962,608. Captive flying platforms. NORD-AVIATION SOCIETE NATIONALE DE CONSTRUCTIONS AERONAUTIQUES. Aug. 21, 1962 [Jan. 30, 1962], No. 32077/62. Heading B7G. [Also in Division G3] A captive self-lifting flying platform unit has a platform including an airscrew 1 developing a vertical thrust and being connected by at least three parallel cables 21 to a rigid frame 13 articulated about a point 20 on a base 12, the length of the cables being varied simultaneously by a winch 25. The airscrew rotates within a fairing 2 connected by stays 3 to the static case of an electric motor 6 which drives airscrew 1, the motor 6 having strut 4 carrying three arms 5 connected to frame 13 by cables 21. Spokes, which support the lower end of the airscrew shaft, carry articulated flaps operated by jacks to compensate the torque produced by the airscrew, Fig. 2 (not shown). The frame 13 is connected by a universal joint 20 to a table 15 on a rigid tripod 14, Fig. 3. Each arm 16 of the frame carries a cup 17 in which rests one of three pins on fairing 2 when the platform is at rest. The arms 16 are coupled to the base 12, 14 by springs 18 and shock-absorbers 19. The cables 21 pass over pulleys 22, 23 on the arms 16 and are wound on to pulleys 24 as is the electric cable 26 to motor 6. An extension 27 to the platform carries, for example, a television camera, radar, or aerial. The forces due to the platform weight, aerodynamic forces and the couple and forces produced by cable 21 tend to keep the platform in a position of equilibrium. A fixed orientation in azimuth can be maintained by a calculating device, Fig. 5 (not shown), which acts on the jacks controlling the flaps on the spokes.