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Lists Saat Tah ae ac eee sie el Ae a ee aaa lately conducted by the General Electric’ Co., New York, with a small power boat equipped with a Dy venti experiments were novel device for reversing and man- euvering without reversing the engine. The boat is 25 feet overall and is owned by W. B. Landreth, deputy state engineer of New York. The object of the experiments was to de- termine the advisability of equipping large vessels with the control gear, more especially vessels driven by tur- bine engines. The accompanying illus- trations show the device and indicate the maneuvering ability. All the handling is done by the man at the helm while the engine takes care of itself. This boat is capable of backing up with the engine running in a forward direction but the most valuable fea- ture is its ability to turn around in its own length. With this rudder the boat can be maneuvered without steerageway, that is with the rudders placed at right: angles to the axis of the keel and with engine running at full speed, -the boat will stand per- fectly still and then by making a slight adjustment of the rudders, the boat will turn around in its own length and continue to do so until the adjustment is changed and during the process of this circular motion it can leave for any point of the com- pass at full speed. As an illustration of the maneuver- ¥ I] MNUUUIUUUUUUUUETAEUUUUL UT il Craft is Fitted With a Novel Rudder That Maneuvers the Boat in Any Direction— Helmsman Has Full Control ing qualities of the rudder, this boat was run into a 40-foot slip full speed ahead, turned around and came out bow first without touching either side of slip. The «udder on the Landreth boat is the invention of H. O. Westendarp, of Boston. It consists of two steel plates, 3/16 of an inch thick, each plate the same size as the normal rud- der used on this type of boat. The rudder post consists of a steel rod inside a steel tube, one plate of the rudder is attached to the tube and the other to the rod. The boat is equipped with two steering wheels, arranged side by side, one wheel to operate the rudder affixed to the tube, and the other the rudder fastened to the rod. The manner in which the rud- ders are affixed to the stern of the boat is shown in the illustration. The view at the right shows the two rud- ders close together in the position for normal cruising when they are used the same as an ordinary rudder. How the Boat Reverses The two steering wheels are on the Same axis and when locked together operate as one wheel for ordinary cruising. But when the boat is to be turned sharply or reversed, the wheels are instantly released so that they may be revolved in opposite direc- tions to manipulate the rudder plates. With a few turns of the wheels the rudder plates are set in V-shape as shown in the view at the left— and with the propeller running full HA 000A AICI 186 speed ahead the boat almost instantly 2 stops and starts to run backwards. The experimental boat was brought from full speed forward to backing in nine seconds. With the reversing gear originally installed on this boat it took 26 seconds to back. The re- versing speed can be controlled to any degree by increasing or decreasing the angular positions of the rudders. The reversing motion is imparted by a stream of water thrown back against the rudder by the propeller and projected thereby forward along the sides of the boat toward the bow. The speed of this water is sufficient to propel the boat backwards at about 30 per cent of the full speed ahead. It will be noted that there is a steel plate, or fin, above the rudder which prevents the water thrown back by the propeller to escape over the top of the rudder. This fin assists in directing the water forward along the sides of the boat. This experimental boat was equipped with the new rudder without any changes to. speak of. It was discov- ered, however, in these experiments that the angle of the supporting rod must be 90 degrees, or more, with the propeller shaft. The diagrams shown herewith indicate clearly the position of the rudder blades for the various cruising directions. ; Without a doubt the device should prove a valuable adjunct to users of small power boats particularly among fishermen for handling their nets. The view at the left shows the rudder set for full speed astern. The plates over the rudder aid in directing the cur- rent set in motion by the propeller. At the right the rudder is set for go- ing ahead. In. this posi- tion the two sections are brought together. The center insert shows the controlling device which consists of a _ supple- mentary wheel installed in front of the steering wheel. The ‘spokes of this supplementary wheel are placed horizontally. Ln SUVA