Anartist's imaginative concept ofavertical-takeoff-and-land-ing (VTOL) transport aircraft popped up on my computer screen the other day. It was a cross between Britain's Shorts Skyvan cargo airplane, which looked like a winged-shoebox, and a reel lawn mower. "Oh, Lord," I said. "Not again." I was about six years old when, walking home from school, one of my brothers pointed to a stumpy-winged, twin-propeller aircraft above. It was a Fairey Rotodyne-at that time the Western world's biggest VTOL that was not a helicopter. In 1962, it was scrapped due to excessive rotor noise, fuselage vibration, and cost, ending high hopes.
展开▼
