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XC-142 #
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Photo: Robert Deering 10/18/2012 National Museum of the USAF Wright-Patterson AFB (FFO) Dayton, Ohio |
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The
tilt-wing XC-142A was an experimental aircraft designed
to investigate the operational suitability of
vertical/short takeoff and landing transports. Such an
aircraft would permit rapid movement of troops and
supplies into unprepared areas under all-weather
conditions. An XC-142A first flew conventionally on
Sept. 29, 1964, and on Jan. 11, 1965, it completed its
first transitional flight by taking off vertically,
changing to forward flight and finally landing
vertically. Tilting the wing and engines skyward permitted vertical takeoff like a helicopter and then the wing and engines were gradually tilted forward to provide the greater speed of a fixed-wing aircraft in forward flight. The engines were linked together so that a single engine could turn all four propellers and the tail rotor. In tests the XC-142A was flown from airspeeds of 35 mph backwards to 400 mph forward. XC-142As were tested extensively by the Army, Navy, Air Force and NASA. |
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