Tour the Demoiselle
Cruciform
A closer look at the tail shows what is known as the cruciform, a
design that Santos-Dumont came up with, which is sort of like a
universal joint. The rudder and the elevator were connected
together. And this is a hinged affair where, when you operated the
controls in the cockpit, you could make the tail either move up and
down along a hinge on the horizontal axis, and along the vertical
axis you could operate it from left to right for steering. A very
simple affair, very efficient, and, of course, you want to keep it
very light and strong. And this design worked perfectly for this
airplane.