Implementing Lanier's patents for stable, safe and economical ultra-short wing vacu- and para-planes

Abstract

Backyard Technology are interested in aspects of aircraft design described by Edward H Lanier in a series of six patents obtained from 1930 to 1933. Lanier's overall aim was to provide an exceptionally stable aeroplane that would both fly normally and recover from undesirable attitudes without pilot aid. Backyard Technology were specifically interested in Lanier's idea of creating a vacuum cavity in the wing by replacing a section of the upper skin of the wing with a series of angled slats, believing that this wing design would give superior lift and stability compared to typical wing designs.