FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1963
1963 - 0775.PDF
746 FLIGHT International, 23 May 1963 It is a high-wing monoplane with a continuous, slightly swept wing. At each wing-tip is a swivelling pod with two engines lying behind the e.g., and lift engines are installed in the fuselage forward of the e.g. The number of lift engines could be varied between two and four, according to range. All the engines are of the same basic type: the Rolls-Royce RB.145. Briefly, the advantages of the VJ 101C project are as follows:— The total installed power is available for VTOL. The reheat thrust can also be used for VTOL. There are no thrust losses, such as arise with jet deflection. Simple transition is possible by means of the rotatable thrust vector (swivelling engines). Control during VTOL is effected by thrust modulation; there is therefore no need for control nozzles, nor for lengthy and complicated duct systems. No thrust losses are suffered due to bleeding air from the engines for control nozzles. There is favourable division of space in the fuselage. All the fuel can be accommodated in the fuselage, since no propulsion engines or intakes are installed there. Design weight is low as a result of the simple airframe structure. Free hovering flight with the XI subsonic research aircraft began at Manching on April 9. A large number of successful fights have since followed VJ 101C Germany's First Jet VTOL Aeroplane ON April 9, at Manching airfield, near Munich, the VJ 101C X-l hovered in free flight for the first time. Last week this aircraft was publicly demonstrated, and what follows is based upon an English translation of an account of the VJ 101C programme given last week by the director of EWR-Sud, Herr Karl Schwarzler. It is four years since, at the suggestion of the West German Federal Minister of Defence, the firms of Bolkow, Heinkel and Messerschmitt combined their development teams to form the Entwicklungsring Siid (EWR) to develop a completely new inter- eepter aircraft. This aircraft was to have a performance corres ponding to that of a modern supersonic fighter, but was also to be capable of vertical take-off and landing, making it independent of large runways which are vulnerable in war. The need for Mach 2 performance dictated from the start the use of jet engines with reheat. A series of project studies was made with deflected jets, swivelling engines, and with various combinations of lift units and propulsion engines. Current VTOL aircraft include the Short SC.l and Mirage III V, which have separate lift and propulsion engines, and the P. 1127, which has an engine with swivelling nozzles. The ratio of lift-engine thrust to propulsion thrust depends on the duty which the aircraft has to perform. In general, more thrust is required to lift the aircraft than is needed for horizontal flight. In any case, it is advantageous to use the thrust of the propulsion engines for lifting the aircraft and to supplement deficiency in lifting thrust by means of special lift units. The VJ 101C project emerged as the most favourable solution. These points are very important for a vertical take-off aircraft, because every increase in design weight, and every loss in thrust, reduces the fuel load and shortens the range. After the VJ 101C layout had been selected, and its aerodynamic characteristics established by means of extensive tests in subsonic and supersonic wind tunnels, the decision was made to build two experimental aircraft, XI and X2. The XI aircraft has non-reheat RB.145 engines for speeds below Mach 1; the X2 is being fitted with reheat engines for speeds above Mach 1. This development series is continued in the VJ 101D, which is designed to achieve speeds above Mach 2, In a VTOL aircraft the airframe and engine must be exceptionally carefully matched to one another. EWR-Sud wish to mention that the excellent co-operation between Rolls-Royce and MAN- Turbomotoren GmbH was a vital factor in the success of the VJ 101 project. During the design and construction of the XI and X2 aircraft, tests were carried out with VTOL control by means of engine thrust alone. The VJ 101 is the first VTOL aircraft to use this technique. For this purpose a so-called Wippe (see-saw) and a free-flying "hovering rig" were used. The Wippe is a simple horizontal beam, supported at one end and free to move up and down at the other. At a suitable distance from the axis of oscillation is a Rolls-Royce RB.108 lift jet, and in front of this is the pilot's seat and instrument panel. The arrange ment of lift engine and pilot's seat is similar to that of the aircraft, with the axis of oscillation corresponding to the pitch axis of the aircraft. First of the EWR-Sud static research rigs was the "Wippe" (see-saw), illustrated on the left, mounted on the pivoting and vertically sliding pedestal to simulate VJ 101C control response On the right is the more advanced hovering rig, shown n 1 / 1 i UL vjfcfeg •• • -: 1 f - ."• .>__ \ ~^^fe5 WLJ • ^^ 1 / ^—• mi:,. (ittfg 3a . ...
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
