VTOL
Encyclopedia : V : VT : VTO : VTOL
| Types of take-off and landing |
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| CTOL |
| STOL |
| STOVL |
| VTOL |
| VTOHL |
| V/STOL |
| CATOBAR |
| STOBAR |
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| CATO |
| JATO/RATO |
| ZLL/ZLTO |
Currently there are believed to be two types of practical VTOL aircraft in service:
- Using a tilt-rotor — the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey
- Using directed jet thrust — the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier "Jump jet" and its successor designs, the BAe/Boeing Harrier II.
History
In 1928, Nikola Tesla received patents for an apparatus for aerial transportation. Tesla called it the "Flivver". It is one of the earliest examples of VTOL aircraft.
An early VTOL prototype was Rolls-Royce's "flying bedstead", this led to the first British VTOL aircraft, the Short SC.1 which used a mixture of vertical lift engines and a horizontal one for forward thrust.
The idea of using the same engine for vertical and horizontal flight by altering the path of the thrust led to the Bristol Siddeley Pegasus engine which used rotating ducts to direct thrust over a range of angles. This was developed side by side with an airframe, the Hawker P.1127, which became subsequently the Kestrel and then the Harrier.
The Harrier is often flown in STOVL mode which enables it to carry a higher fuel or weapon load over a given distance. The Indian and Spanish Navies operate Sea Harriers, mainly from aircraft carriers.
The United States Marine Corps uses a license-built derivative of the Harrier. NASA has flown other VTOL craft such as the XV-15 research craft, as have the Soviet Navy and Luftwaffe. Sikorsky tested an aircraft dubbed the X-Wing, which took off in the manner of a helicopter. The rotors would become stationary in mid-flight, and function as wings, providing lift in addition to the static wings. Boeing X-50 is a Canard Rotor/Wing prototype.
The Harrier will be replaced in the air arms of the US and UK by a STOVL variant of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
In the 1960s France developed a version of the Dassault Mirage III capable of attaining Mach 1. The Dassault Mirage III - V Balzac (not to be confused with the Mirage 5) achieved transition from vertical to horizontal flight in March of 1966 and reached Mach 1.3 in level flight a short time later.
The Soviet Yak-38 Forger was the Soviet Navy's VTOL aircraft for their light carriers, cargoships, and capital ships. It was developed from the Yak-36 Freehand experimental aircraft. Before the Soviet Union collapsed, a supersonic VTOL aircraft was developed as the Yak-38's successor, the Yak-141, which never went into production. The Yak-141, also called Yak-41 was further developed into the Yak-43.
The Moller Skycar is a prototype personal VTOL aircraft -- literally, a "flying air vehicle" (PAV).
Aircraft designed to operate in extraterrestrial environments often utilize VTOL. An example of this type of aircraft is the LLRV. Spacecraft typically operate in environments where runways or even a suitably flat surface for skids is nonexistent.
Media
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[F-35 flight (video)] ([file info])
- F-35 flight, good image of transition to VTOL configuration, vertical take off, inflight re-fueling, verticle hover and landing.
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[F-35 verticle landing (video)] ([file info])
- Verticle landing (video)
- Problems seeing the videos? See .
See also
- BS100 - a ducted turbofan engine for VTOL use
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