Pressure-Jet Convertiplane

Both military and civilian aircraft users have long demanded a helicopter-airplane hybrid: a "convertiplane" that can take off vertically like a helicopter and fly as fast and as economically as an airplane. Many designs have been tested, but none with notable success.

Last week McDonnell Aircraft Corp. showed its XV1 convertiplane, a joint Army-Air Force project designed to sidestep many of the difficulties. On takeoff, the engine blows air through the hollow blades of the rotor. When it reaches the tips, the air makes fuel burn in small "pressure jets." Their thrust spins the rotor and lifts the ship off the ground. Then air and fuel are cut off, and the rotor idles freely while a pusher propeller flies the convertiplane like an ordinary airplane.

McDonnell has not yet tested the XV-1, but it hopes for high performance. The self-powered rotor acts like an auxiliary engine, so the main engine need not be large. No tail spinner is necessary; there is no torque for it to overcome. The wings, not needed for takeoff, are half the size of conventional wings.

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