CL-84

Encyclopedia : C : CL : CL8 : CL-84

The CL-84 Dynavert was a V/STOL capable turbine monoplane designed and manufactured by Canadair. The wing and the powerplants of the aircraft could be tilted hydraulically so that the wing incidence changed through 100 degrees to the vertical from a normal flight angle to those for STOL and VTOL. The incidence of the normally fixed tailplane (or stabilizer) was automatically altered to deal with trim changes as the wing-incidence varied.

Cl-84-2 making a vertical landing on USS Guadalcanal during trials for US Navy

Contra-rotating rotors on a vertical axis in the tail provided fore-and-aft control during hovering and transitional flight. The propulsion and lifting propellers were handed (ie revolved in opposite directions) and were interconnected by shafts through a central gearbox from which the tail rotors and accessories were also driven. The thrust from the propellers was matched automatically except when over-ridden by the pilot for lateral control in slow or hovering flight. A mechan­ical `mixing' unit was used to adjust the controls as the different types of flight were made from the control column.

Two 1,500 shp Lycoming T53 shaft-turbines were used to drive 14 ft four-bladed propellers. The engines were connected by cross shafts, so that in the event of the failure of one engine, it could disconnect and both propellers be driven by the remaining engine.

The CL-84 was evaluated for the U.S. Navy, with some deck landings made. No contract, however, resulted. It is interesting that the form of the present day V-22 Osprey VTOL aircraft bears a similar appearance some 30 years later. The CL-84 first flew in hover on 7 May 1965. A prototype and three evaluation aircraft were built.

Specifications

• Wing Span: 34 ft 8 in
• Length: 53 ft 7 1/2 in
• Weight (empty): 8775 lb
• Max T/O Wt (VTOL): 12600 lb
• Max T/O Wt (STOL): 14500 lb
• Max Speed: 321 mph
• Max Range: 420 miles (with max wing fuel, VTOL, & 10% reserves)

| Airlines | Air forces | Aircraft weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation

1. Redirect

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.