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.