Composite Power Plant System for V/S.T.O.L. Aircraft: Background to the Development of Lightweight Lift Engines Including a Description of the Rolls‐Royce RB.162 and the Advantages of the Composite System for V/S.T.O.L. Strike Fighters

Abstract

THE ability of an aircraft to take‐off and land vertically can be achieved by a number of design techniques. Those currently favoured vary from the use of a large rotor (as in the helicopter) through propeller‐driven tilting wings and large ducted fans to small jet lift engines. Three major design parameters which affect the final choice of technique arc take‐off and hovering efficiency, cruising flight efficiency (involving, as it may do in the case of helicopters, limitations on forward speed) and the velocity of the lifting jet which will influence noise level and ground erosion problems. The use of the tilting wing, rotor, and to a lesser degree ducted fans places a comparatively severe restriction on the performance of aircraft required for military operations at high speeds and high altitudes, and consequently the turbojet lifting engine appears to offer the best solution to the vertical take‐off and landing problem for this type of application.

Citation

(1962), "Composite Power Plant System for V/S.T.O.L. Aircraft: Background to the Development of Lightweight Lift Engines Including a Description of the Rolls‐Royce RB.162 and the Advantages of the Composite System for V/S.T.O.L. Strike Fighters", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 34 No. 12, pp. 350-352. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb033653