Month in the Patent Office

In a passenger‐freight aircraft with an upper passenger compartment 8 and a lower freight compartment 6, access between the two compartments is obtained by an internal stairway constructed partly in one and partly in the other of two clam‐shell type doors 71,72 closing the rear of the lower compartment 6. In the arrangement shown the door 71 carries a landing 10 and steps 11, together with hand rails 29,30, while the door 72 carries a second landing 16 co‐operating with the steps 11, and steps 17 giving access to an opening 18 in the floor of the upper compartment 8. When passengers are carried in the lower compartment additional steps may be fitted between the landing 10 and the compartment floor level, and if they are carried with scats disposed in two tiers an additional stairway unit may be mounted on the door.