The Sikorsky XV-2, also known by the Sikorsky Aircraft model number S-57, was a planned experimental stoppable rotor aircraft, designated as a convertiplane, developed for a joint research program between the United States Air Force and the United States Army to explore technologies to develop an aircraft that could take off and land like a helicopter but fly at faster airspeeds, similar to a conventional airplane.
The XV-2’s stoppable-rotor design was intended to allow it to hover and fly at low speed like a conventional helicopter, while at higher speeds the rotor would be stopped and retracted, and the XV-2 would fly like a conventional aircraft on delta wings.
Aviation, especially military aviation certainly was wildly innovative in the 50's & 60's.
ReplyDeleteI'll take the MV-22
ReplyDeleteI don't know any background about the SV-2 but I do know that there a lot of "concept demos" that have come along, proved what they wanted to prove (or not) and were never further developed and so went away. Some pretty exotic, others just "good ideas". I once caught a hop on a C-130 that was painted up in bright and shiny Coast Guard colors. It was pretty. Natural enough though as the CG does fly the herky, except for the big radar rotodome mounted to the top of the fuselage looking for all the world like a junior AWACS.
ReplyDelete