V/STOL
Encyclopedia
Vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL) is a term used to describe aircraft
that are able to take-off or land
vertically or on short runways. Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) describes craft which do not require runways at all. Generally, a V/STOL aircraft needs to be able to hover; helicopters are not typically considered under the V/STOL classification.
Most V/STOL aircraft types were experiments or outright failures from the 1950s to 1970s. V/STOL aircraft types that have been produced in large numbers include the Harrier
, Yak-38 Forger and V-22 Osprey
.
A rolling takeoff, sometimes with a ramp (ski-jump), reduces the amount of thrust required to lift an aircraft from the ground (compared with vertical takeoff), and hence increases the payload and range that can be achieved for a given thrust. For instance, the Harrier is incapable of taking off vertically with a full weapons and fuel load. Hence V/STOL aircraft generally use a runway if it is available. I.e. Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL
) or Conventional Take-off and Landing (CTOL
) operation is preferred to VTOL
operation.
V/STOL was developed to allow fast jets to be operated from clearings in forests, from very short runways, and from small aircraft carrier
s that would previously only have been able to carry helicopter
s.
The main advantage of V/STOL aircraft is closer basing to the enemy, which reduces response time and tanker support requirements. In the case of the Falklands War
, it also permitted high performance fighter air cover and ground attack without a large aircraft carrier equipped with a catapult.
The latest V/STOL aircraft is the F-35B, which is expected to enter service in 2016.
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
that are able to take-off or land
Takeoff and landing
Vehicles that can fly can have different ways to takeoff and land. Conventional aircraft accelerate along the ground until sufficient lift is generated for takeoff, and reverse the process to land. Some aircraft can takeoff at low speed, this a short takeoff. Some aircraft such as helicopters and...
vertically or on short runways. Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) describes craft which do not require runways at all. Generally, a V/STOL aircraft needs to be able to hover; helicopters are not typically considered under the V/STOL classification.
Most V/STOL aircraft types were experiments or outright failures from the 1950s to 1970s. V/STOL aircraft types that have been produced in large numbers include the Harrier
Harrier Jump Jet
The Harrier, informally referred to as the Jump Jet, is a family of British-designed military jet aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations...
, Yak-38 Forger and V-22 Osprey
V-22 Osprey
The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing , and short takeoff and landing capability...
.
A rolling takeoff, sometimes with a ramp (ski-jump), reduces the amount of thrust required to lift an aircraft from the ground (compared with vertical takeoff), and hence increases the payload and range that can be achieved for a given thrust. For instance, the Harrier is incapable of taking off vertically with a full weapons and fuel load. Hence V/STOL aircraft generally use a runway if it is available. I.e. Short Take Off and Vertical Landing (STOVL
STOVL
STOVL is an acronym for short take off and vertical landing.This is the ability of some aircraft to take off from a short runway or take off vertically if it does not have a very heavy payload and land vertically...
) or Conventional Take-off and Landing (CTOL
CTOL
CTOL is an acronym for conventional take-off and landing, and is the process whereby conventional aircraft take off and land, involving the use of runways. The aircraft will taxi along the runway until its rotation speed is reached, then climb into the air...
) operation is preferred to VTOL
VTOL
A vertical take-off and landing aircraft is one that can hover, take off and land vertically. This classification includes fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and tiltrotors...
operation.
V/STOL was developed to allow fast jets to be operated from clearings in forests, from very short runways, and from small aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s that would previously only have been able to carry helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s.
The main advantage of V/STOL aircraft is closer basing to the enemy, which reduces response time and tanker support requirements. In the case of the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
, it also permitted high performance fighter air cover and ground attack without a large aircraft carrier equipped with a catapult.
The latest V/STOL aircraft is the F-35B, which is expected to enter service in 2016.
Lists of V/STOL aircraft
This is a partial list, there have been many designs for V/STOL aircraft.Vectored thrust
- Ryan XV-5. Ducts in wings with half-trash can lid covers.
- Hawker P.1127/KestrelHawker P.1127The Hawker P.1127 and the Hawker Siddeley Kestrel FGA.1 were the experimental and development aircraft that led to the Hawker Siddeley Harrier, the first vertical and/or short take-off and landing jet fighter-bomber...
/HarrierHarrier Jump JetThe Harrier, informally referred to as the Jump Jet, is a family of British-designed military jet aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations...
; four rotating nozzles for vectored thrust of fan and jet exhaust.
Tilt-rotor
- Bell XV-3Bell XV-3|-See also:- References :NotesBibliography*Markman, Steve, and William G. Holder. Straight Up: A History of Vertical Flight. Schiffer military/aviation history. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2000....
- Bell XV-15Bell XV-15The Bell XV-15 was an American tiltrotor VTOL aircraft. It was the second successful experimental tiltrotor aircraft and the first to demonstrate the concept's high speed performance relative to conventional helicopters.-Early VTOL rotor aircraft:...
- Bell 609
- Bell-Boeing V-22 OspreyV-22 OspreyThe Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, military, tiltrotor aircraft with both a vertical takeoff and landing , and short takeoff and landing capability...
(scale up of XV-15)
Tilt-wing
- Fairchild X-19 - four rotating propellers, tilt-wing.
- Canadair CL-84Canadair CL-84The Canadair CL-84 "Dynavert", designated by the Canadian Forces as the CX-131, was a V/STOL turbine tilt-wing monoplane designed and manufactured by Canadair between 1964 and 1972. Only four of these experimental aircraft were built with three entering flight testing...
Dynavert, two turbopropTurbopropA turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
tilt-wing in RCAF service from 1960 - LTV XC-142 four-engine tilt-wing cross-shafted turbopropTurbopropA turboprop engine is a type of turbine engine which drives an aircraft propeller using a reduction gear.The gas turbine is designed specifically for this application, with almost all of its output being used to drive the propeller...
- Bell X-22Bell X-22-References:NotesBibliography* Markman, Steve and Bill Holder. Straight Up: A History of Vertical Flight. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7643-1204-9....
rotating ducted propellers. Small transport prototype. Slightly smaller than V-22 Osprey. - Hiller X-18Hiller X-18The X-18 was an experimental cargo transport aircraft designed to be the first testbed for tiltwing and VSTOL technology.-Development:...
Separate thrust and lift
- Kamov Ka-22Kamov Ka-22|-See also:...
- Lockheed XV-4 Hummingbird
- Mirage "Balzac" VDassault Mirage IIIV|-See also:-Bibliography:* Breffort, Dominique and Andre Jouineau. "The Mirage III, 5, 50 and derivatives from 1955 to 2000." Planes and Pilots 6. Paris: Histoire et Collections, 2004. ISBN 2-913903-92-4....
(V stands for vertical and is a modified Mirage III) - Mirage III VDassault Mirage IIIV|-See also:-Bibliography:* Breffort, Dominique and Andre Jouineau. "The Mirage III, 5, 50 and derivatives from 1955 to 2000." Planes and Pilots 6. Paris: Histoire et Collections, 2004. ISBN 2-913903-92-4....
the first VTOL capable of supersonic flight (Mach 2.03 during tests) - Yakovlev Yak-141Yakovlev Yak-141The Yakovlev Yak-141 , also known as the Yak-41, is a supersonic vertical takeoff/landing fighter aircraft designed by Yakolev. It did not enter production.-Design and development:...
Flown, but not operational - Yakovlev Yak-38Yakovlev Yak-38The Yakovlev Yak-38 was Soviet Naval Aviation's first and only operational VTOL strike fighter aircraft, in addition to being its first operational carrier-based fixed-wing aircraft...
Supersonic
Although many aircraft have been proposed, built, and some even tested, the F-35B is expected to be the first supersonic VTOL aircraft in operational service.- Bell D-188A Mach 2 swivelling engines, mockup stage
- EWR VJ 101EWR VJ 101-See also:-Bibliography:* Rogers, Mike. VTOL: Military Research Aircraft. New York: Orion Books, 1989. ISBN 0-517-57684-8.* Winchester, Jim. "EWR-Sud VJ 101C ". X-Planes and Prototypes. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. ISBN 1-904687-40-7....
Mach 2 fighter from Germany similar to Bell D-188A, flown to M1.04 but not operational - Mirage III VDassault Mirage IIIV|-See also:-Bibliography:* Breffort, Dominique and Andre Jouineau. "The Mirage III, 5, 50 and derivatives from 1955 to 2000." Planes and Pilots 6. Paris: Histoire et Collections, 2004. ISBN 2-913903-92-4....
the first VTOL capable of supersonic flight (Mach 2.03 during tests), not operational - Hawker Siddeley P.1154Hawker Siddeley P.1154The Hawker Siddeley P.1154 was a planned supersonic vertical/short take-off and landing fighter aircraft designed by Hawker Siddeley Aviation . Developed alongside the subsonic and smaller Hawker Siddeley P.1127/Kestrel, the P.1154 was derived from the P.1150. The P.1150 proposal did not meet NATO...
M1.7 Supersonic Harrier. Never built - Rockwell XFV-12 Built but could not lift its own weight
- Yakovlev Yak-141Yakovlev Yak-141The Yakovlev Yak-141 , also known as the Yak-41, is a supersonic vertical takeoff/landing fighter aircraft designed by Yakolev. It did not enter production.-Design and development:...
Flown, but not operational - Lockheed Martin X-35B/F-35BF-35 Lightning IIThe Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is a family of single-seat, single-engine, fifth generation multirole fighters under development to perform ground attack, reconnaissance, and air defense missions with stealth capability...
uses a vectored-thrust engine (the Pratt & Whitney F135Pratt & Whitney F135The Pratt & Whitney F135 is an afterburning turbofan developed for the F-35 Lightning II single-engine strike fighter. The F135 family has several distinct variants, including a conventional, forward thrust variant and a multi-cycle STOVL variant that includes a forward lift fan...
) plus a lifting fanRolls-Royce LiftSystemThe Rolls-Royce LiftSystem is an innovative propulsion system designed for use in the STOVL variant of the F-35 Lightning II developed during the Joint Strike Fighter Program...
. First aircraft capable of demonstrating transition from short take-off to supersonic flight to vertical landing on the same sortie.