Nevada Proving Ground
After World War II, the United States knew that it could not maintain its nuclear monopoly for long. On August 29, 1949, a nuclear explosion occurred at the Semipalatinsk test site in Kazakhstan. This test explosion opened a new era of military competition among major powers. In just a few years, the combined reserves of US and Soviet nuclear weapons reached 70,000. On the premise of ensuring mutual destruction, the entire world is in an extremely fragile balance. The two sides are at war for territory and prestige. The real question is no longer "whether a nuclear war will break out" but "when will it break out".
The top U.S. military must consider how to continue fighting after the first round of nuclear attacks and eventually win. During World War II, aviation infrastructure developed explosively, with a large number of takeoff and landing runways in Europe and the Pacific. Once a new conflict breaks out, these runways will facilitate the United States and its allies to project heavy bombers onto the Soviet territory, and therefore they are bound to become the primary targets of the Soviet Union. As a result, the concept of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) has appeared in many military aircraft development projects. The US military needs a new type of fighter that does not rely on runway takeoff and landing. In the 1950s, the U.S. Air Force funded the Canadian VZ-9 "Afro Speed" project. At the same time, the US Navy received plans submitted by Lockheed and Convair.
Lockheed XFV "Salmon"
For the US Navy, the vertical take-off and landing platform will give it the ability to launch interception fighters from non-aircraft carriers. If necessary, the US Navy even considered launching vertical take-off and landing fighters from merchant ships when the war broke out.
In June 1951, Lockheed was awarded the XFV-1 test machine manufacturing contract. This prototype fighter has traditional wings and an enhanced X-shaped tail. A 5850 horsepower turboprop engine drives a pair of three-blade counter-rotating propellers, which makes the fighter look like a hybrid of a helicopter and a propeller fighter. . The most unusual thing is that it is designed to take off and land with the tail, while the nose is pointed straight into the air. Z1z
, the XFV test machine
, with its nose soaring into the sky, Lockheed invited the famous Kelly Johnson to design the XFV. The latter had completed the development of the first mass-produced and serviced jet fighter P-80 "Meteor" in the United States. As a legendary aircraft designer, Kelly Johnson has led many military aircraft projects such as U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, SR-71 "Blackbird" and F-117 "Nighthawk".
XFV-1 has never completed a vertical take-off and landing
In order to conduct conventional take-off and landing tests, XFV-1 is equipped with a rather awkward landing gear, including two wheels on the lower tail. In December 1953, XFV-1 was piloted by test pilot Herman Salmon and briefly "bounced" into the air during a ground taxi test. Less than a year later, in June 1954, the aircraft flew into the sky for the first time.
XFV-1 prototype vertical display
Unfortunately, the Allison YT40-A-6 turboprop engine installed on the prototype is not powerful enough to support actual vertical take-off or landing operations. Lockheed plans to use the upcoming (more powerful) Allison T54 engine, which will produce 7,100 horsepower, but due to engine development issues, XFV has never been replaced with a new power unit. The XFV-1
XFV-1 prototype displayed in the
museum has performed a total of 32 short flights, and even managed to hover the nose up in a short time, but never completed a vertical take-off or landing.
Convair XFY "Pogo Stick"
Convair’s approach to vertical take-off and landing has many similarities with Lockheed. Like the XFV, Convair’s XFY "Pogo Stick" is designed to stand on the tail, using a pair of three-bladed counter-rotating propellers to take off like a helicopter. Once lifted off, the plane will reorient itself, like a traditionalFlying forward like a propeller plane.
It’s not easy for test pilots to get into the cockpit.
In terms of purpose alone, XFY "Pogo Sticks" are more successful than Lockheed's plan. The first outdoor test flight began in August 1954, and shortly thereafter, the aircraft performed 70 vertical take-off and landing demonstrations. In November of the same year, with the cooperation of the Convair technical team and test pilot James Coleman, the XFY-1 completed the transition from vertical flight to horizontal flight for the first time. To make the transition easier, the pilot seat in the cockpit is mounted on a gimbal that orients the pilot to 45 degrees in vertical flight mode and 90 degrees in horizontal flight. Z1z
, the XFY-1 test pilot
leaning forward, despite the success of the preliminary test, the subsequent test flight also exposed the birth defects of the erected vertical take-off and landing fighter. During the flight, the XFY-1 did not have air brakes or spoilers to slow down after flying at high speeds, and what was more troublesome was the extremely difficult landing method of the aircraft. The pilot had to twist his body to look down and adjust the fuselage to a vertical attitude for a slow landing. Finally, the technical team installed a low-power radar system for XFY-1 to help pilots measure the height of the aircraft through a series of lights, but there is still a great risk of landing. Soon the U.S. Navy realized that the plan to deploy such fighters on non-aircraft ships would not work because only the most skilled pilots could land the aircraft. Z1z
vertical lift-off XFY-1 test machine
In addition, the performance of the erected vertical take-off and landing fighter can not meet the combat needs. At that time, the maximum speed of jet fighters could reach Mach 2, and the propeller-driven VTOL fighters tested by the U.S. Navy could not even break through the sound barrier. In the end, this concept was abandoned. By the end of 1956, both Lockheed XFV "Salmon" and Convair XFY "Pogo sticks" were sent to the museum for display.
In the end, the US Navy invested heavily in fixed-wing and swept-wing carrier-based fighter projects, such as the F-9F Leopard, F-14 Tomcat, and F/A-18 Hornet. However, vertical or short take-off fighters still enter the US military's arsenal. The U.S. Marine Corps began using AV-8A Harrier fighters in 1971, and is now attempting to launch the F-35B, a short take-off and vertical landing variant of the Joint Strike Fighter on an amphibious assault ship.
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