An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, in a few cases, direct downward thrust from its engines. Common examples of aircraft include airplanes, rotorcraft, helicopters, airships, gliders, paramotors, and hot air balloons. Part 1 of Subchapter A of Chapter I of Title 14 of the U. S. Code of Federal Regulations states that aircraft "means a device that is used or intended to be used for flight in the air."
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing aircraft and other hybrid aircraft with powered rotors such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and gyrodynes.
The Rockwell-Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm X-31 is an experimental jet aircraft designed to test fighter thrust vectoring technology. It was designed and built by Rockwell and Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB), as part of a joint United States and German Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability program to provide additional control authority in pitch and yaw, for significantly more maneuverability than most conventional fighters. An advanced flight control system provided controlled flight at high angles of attack where conventional aircraft would stall or lose control. Two aircraft were built, of which one has survived.
Thrust vectoring, also known as thrust vector control (TVC), is the ability of an aircraft, rocket or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the vehicle.
The Boeing X-32 is a concept demonstrator aircraft that was designed for the Joint Strike Fighter competition. It lost to the Lockheed Martin X-35 demonstrator, which was further developed into the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II.
The Curtiss-Wright X-19, company designation Model 200, is an American experimental tiltrotor aircraft of the early 1960s. It was noteworthy for being the last aircraft of any kind manufactured by Curtiss-Wright.
The General Electric YF120, internally designated as GE37, was a variable cycle afterburning turbofan engine designed by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the late 1980s and early 1990s for the United States Air Force's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program. It was designed to produce maximum thrust in the 35,000 lbf (156 kN) class. Prototype engines were installed in the two competing technology demonstrator aircraft, the Lockheed YF-22 and Northrop YF-23.
The Lockheed XV-4 Hummingbird was a U.S. Army project to demonstrate the feasibility of using VTOL for a surveillance aircraft carrying target-acquisition and sensory equipment. It was designed and built by the Lockheed Corporation in the 1960s, one of many attempts to produce a V/STOL vertical take off/landing jet. Both prototype aircraft were destroyed in accidents.
A gyrodyne is a type of VTOL aircraft with a helicopter rotor-like system that is driven by its engine for takeoff and landing only, and includes one or more conventional propeller or jet engines to provide thrust during cruising flight. During forward flight the rotor is unpowered and free-spinning, like an autogyro, and lift is provided by a combination of the rotor and conventional wings. The gyrodyne is one of a number of similar concepts which attempt to combine helicopter-like low-speed performance with conventional fixed-wing high-speeds, including tiltrotors and tiltwings.
A rotary-wing aircraft, rotorwing aircraft or rotorcraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft with rotary wings that spin around a vertical mast to generate lift. Part 1 of Subchapter A of Chapter I of Title 14 of the U. S. Code of Federal Regulations states that rotorcraft "means a heavier-than-air aircraft that depends principally for its support in flight on the lift generated by one or more rotors." The assembly of several rotor blades mounted on a single mast is referred to as a rotor. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines a rotorcraft as "supported in flight by the reactions of the air on one or more rotors".
The Rockwell XFV-12 was a prototype supersonic United States Navy fighter which was built in 1977. The XFV-12 design attempted to combine the Mach 2 speed and AIM-7 Sparrow armament of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in a VTOL fighter for the small Sea Control Ship which was under study at the time. On paper, it looked superior to the subsonic Hawker Siddeley Harrier attack fighter. However, it was unable to demonstrate an untethered vertical takeoff and its inability to meet performance requirements resulted in the program's termination.
The Sikorsky S-72 was an experimental Sikorsky Aircraft compound helicopter developed as the Rotor Systems Research Aircraft (RSRA) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United States Army. The RSRA was a testbed for rotor and propulsion systems for high-speed.
The Short SC.1 was the first British fixed-wing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet aircraft. It was developed by Short Brothers. It was powered by an arrangement of five Rolls-Royce RB.108 turbojets, four of which were used for vertical flight and one for conventional horizontal flight. The SC.1 had the distinction of being the first British fixed-wing VTOL aircraft and the first one to transition between vertical and horizontal flight modes; it was also the first VTOL-capable aircraft with a fly-by-wire control system.
A powered lift aircraft takes off and lands vertically under engine power but uses a fixed wing for horizontal flight. Like helicopters, these aircraft do not need a long runway to take off and land, but they have a speed and performance similar to standard fixed-wing aircraft in combat or other situations.
The Vertical Take-Off and Landing Experimental Aircraft program was an American research project sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The goal of the program was to demonstrate a VTOL aircraft design that can take off vertically and efficiently hover, while flying faster than conventional rotorcraft. There have been many previous attempts, most of them unsuccessful as of 2015.
The period between 1945 and 1979 is sometimes called the post-war era or the period of the post-war political consensus. During this period, aviation was dominated by the arrival of the Jet Age. In civil aviation the jet engine allowed a huge expansion of commercial air travel, while in military aviation it led to the widespread introduction of supersonic aircraft.
The Aurora XV-24 LightningStrike is an experimental unmanned aerial vehicle created by Aurora Flight Sciences and partners Rolls-Royce and Honeywell. It was developed for the Vertical Take-Off and Landing Experimental Aircraft program.
An annular lift fan aircraft is a conceptual vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that was first systematically and numerically investigated in 2015. This concept was proposed to offer a VTOL solution for both high hovering efficiency and high cruise speed, using a large annular lift fan instead of the relatively small conventional circular lift fans used in the Ryan XV-5 Vertifan and the F-35B Lightning II (JSF).
The Convair Model 200 was a design for a supersonic vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighter requirement for the United States Navy Sea Control Ship. Further versions were planned for conventional catapult launches and landing using arresting gear.
