V/STOL: The First Half-Century

Aircraft That Didn't Make The Wheel:
A strict set of criteria was used to select the aircraft for the wheel of V/STOL Aircraft and Propulsion Concepts. Only aircraft which were actually tested, with the intention to demonstrate or develop an operational aircraft concept capable of Vertical or Short Take-Off and Landing and conventional forward flight were selected (although the JSF X-32 and X-35 concept demonstrators will not fly until 2000, they are included for illustrative purposes). Aircraft that did not meet these criteria included:

Platforms, ground effect machines, conventional helicopters and autogyros, and purely STOL aircraft;
Numerous design studies, such as the EWR-Republic V/STOL, Convair 200, Sikorsky X-Wing, and others that were never built; and
Research helicopters, where a jet engine was used solely to increase maximum speed, such as the Lockheed XH-51A, the Fairey Jet Gyrodyne, the Sikorsky S-72 Rotor Systems Research Aircraft, and the Sikorsky XH-59 Advancing Blade Concept (ABC).

Vision for the Future:
Over the past half-century many different types of V/STOL aircraft have been built and tested, while many more never left the drawing board. Today, the future looks bright for V/STOL. In the next half-century, we will see the V-22 Osprey achieve operational service, as well as a possible commercial tilt rotor. The Harrier will end its respectable career, but the supersonic STOVL Joint Strike Fighter will enter the inventories of the US Marine Corps and allied nations. The second half-century of V/STOL promises to be even more exciting than the first!

About the Author:

Mike Hirschberg is an aerospace engineer at ANSER, Inc. He currently supports the Propulsion Management Team for the Joint Strike Fighter Program. Previous positions have included supporting the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition on the F-22 advanced tactical fighter and F119 engine programs, and working as a project engineer on various solid rocket motor development programs. He has authored several papers on engine development and V/STOL aircraft, including the upcoming AIAA Case Study on Soviet V/STOL Aircraft.

Further Reading:

Soviet V/STOL Aircraft: The Struggle for a Shipborne Combat Capability, Michael J. Hirschberg, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, June 1997.
The German V/STOL Fighter Program: A Quest for Survivability in a Theater Nuclear Environment, Albert C. Piccirillo, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, June 1997.
"A Status Review of Non-Helicopter V/STOL Aircraft Development (Part 1 of 2)," Bernard Lindenbaum, Vertiflite, March-April 1990.
VTOL Military Research Aircraft, Mike Rogers, Orion Books, 1989.
"Historical Overview of V/STOL Aircraft Technology," Seth Anderson, NASA Technical Memorandum 81280, Ames Research Center, March 1981.
"Introduction to V/STOL Aircraft Concepts and Categories," Phillip Poisson-Quinton, AGARDograph 126, May 1968.

Credits:

V/STOL wheel graphic by Mike Hirschberg and Jack Butler, ANSER. For an electronic copy of the V/STOL wheel, click here.
Thanks to Sam Wilson, NASA, and Hal Andrews, DGI, for their invaluable assistance with the graphic and the article.

Introduction

Same Propulsion System for Hover and Forward Flight (Aircraft # 1 - 26)

Separate Power Plant for Hover (Aircraft # 27 - 29)

Combined Power Plant for Hover (Aircraft # 30 - 37)

Augmented Power Plant for Hover (Aircraft # 38 - 45)

Vision For the Future (and Credits, etc)

V/STOL Aircraft and Propulsion Concepts (The V/STOL "Wheel of Misfortune")

Back to the AHS Home Page