Everybody's Joystick

Robert Esnault-Pelterie, oldtime aeronaut of France, best known for his interest in shooting a rocket to the moon, sued Chance Vought Corp. last year on the ground that every plane it had built was an infringement of his patents. His reason: each of the planes was controlled in flight by a single stick ("joystick") operating ailerons and elevator, which he claimed to have invented. A victory in the Chance Vought case would have meant collection of fabulous damages from U. S aviation, as every plane has joystick control. Last week a Federal judge in Brook lyn dismissed the Esnault-Pelterie suit Opinion: "There certainly was no novelty in the use of a well-known device, the lever."

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