Air-propelled vehicle and method for driving and steering said vehicle

Claim 1

An air-cushion and air-propelled vehicle comprising: a. a body formed with air tunnels each extending on one side of the central longitudinal vertical plane of said body, said tunnels being opened at the rear end and at the ground-facing bottom thereof; b. an air thrust source mounted at the front end of said body, upstream of said tunnels, to blow an air jet of predetermined magnitude into each of said tunnels whereby to cause displacement of said vehicle and to give rise to a resultant reactive drag force acting longitudinally centrally of said vehicle, said air source comprising at least one air blower ejecting an inclined slipstream breaking up into a horizontal thrust-applying component and into a vertical sustension component, c. means to modify the magnitudes of said jets in relation to one another to create an active resultant thrust force parallel to and offset from said resultant drag force whereby to apply to said vehicle a steering turning moment, said modifying means including pivotable baffle plates operable to divert at least a portion of one of said jets into the other jets whereby to modify relative magnitudes thereof; d. means mounting said baffle plates for pivotal action about a vertical axis and between said blower and said tunnels to control the magnitudes of the jets allowed into the respective tunnels, and e. single means operative to cause pivoting of only one of said baffle plates at one time so that a portion or all of one jet may be directed toward the other jet to be mixed therewith.