US High Speed VSTOL History A Perspective on VSTOL Developments in the US

摘要

VSTOL in the United States probably began shortly after sketches of Leonardo da Vinci's concepts and designs appeared in the mid-19th Century. Although not finally published until 1881, da Vinci's ideas inspired many in the US as well as in Europe. The first known design was that of Powers, who designed and built a model for the Confederate Navy in 1862 and it was stored for years in the Smithsonian's vaults. Several concepts were put forth in the early 1900's, but no adequate power system was available. Even da Vinci's ideas had been powered by a spring motor, not something that could be used for manned aircraft. Once gasoline engines were available, and as time progressed, the sky was limitless! Many ideas were considered, designed, and tried either as models or full-scale. It was really not until the 1940's that flyable VSTOLs could be built and flown. Initially piston powered, followed by turbojets and by shaft turbines, tiltrotors, stopped rotors, retractable rotors, tail-sitters (propeller and jet) and finally, various concepts in fan and jet lifters culminated in the production of the V-22 Tiltrotor and shortly, aircraft for the supersonic Joint Strike Fighter Program.