Month in the Patent Office

In an aircraft, specifically a guided missile wherein the missile shell 10 carries a stub wing 16 to which is hinged a folding wing 11 which folds about a fore‐and‐aft axis 12 on the wing lower surface and a control surface 13 is hinged to the wing part 11 about a transverse axis 14 displaced vertically from axis 12, control means for surface 13 comprises a two‐part control torque tube 15A, 15B, part 15B being mounted in bearings 17 in part 11 and fast with surface 13. The connexion between the parts of the torque tube comprises a slotted member 23 fast with part 15A and a tongue member 20 of L‐shape fast with part 15B, and of such proportions that, as shown by chain dotted lines, the two parts remain in operative engagement when the wing part 11 folds downwardly about axis 12. The wing‐folding and surface‐adjusting mechanisms are inter‐connected to ensure that the slotted member 23 is correctly oriented before wing folding commences.