View source for V/STOL

{{merge from|VTOL|STOVL|discuss=Talk:V/STOL#Merge proposal|date=June 2025}}
{{distinguish|STOVL}}
{{Short description|Aircraft takeoff and landing class}}
{{Refimprove|date=September 2017}}
[[File:BAe Harrier GR9 ZG502 landing arp.jpg|thumb|right|[[RAF]] Harrier GR9 arrives at [[RIAT]] 2008]]
[[File:US Navy 080220-N-5180F-015 A Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey prepares to land aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau (LHA 4).jpg|thumb|right|A U.S. Marine Corps [[Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey|MV-22 Osprey]] prepares to land aboard a ship]]
A '''vertical and/or short take-off and landing''' ('''V/STOL''') aircraft is an [[airplane]] able to [[takeoff and landing|take-off or land]] vertically or on short runways. [[VTOL|Vertical takeoff and landing]] (VTOL) aircraft are a subset of V/STOL craft that do not require runways at all. Generally, a V/STOL aircraft needs to be able to hover. Helicopters are not considered under the V/STOL classification as the classification is only used for aeroplanes, aircraft that achieve [[lift (force)]] in forward flight by planing the air, thereby achieving speed and [[fuel efficiency]] that is typically greater than the capability of helicopters.

Most V/STOL aircraft types were experiments or outright failures from the 1950s to 1970s.  V/STOL aircraft types that have been produced in large numbers include the [[F-35B Lightning II]], [[Harrier jump jet|Harrier]] and [[V-22 Osprey]].

A rolling takeoff, sometimes with a ramp ([[Aircraft ski-jump|ski-jump]]), reduces the amount of thrust required to lift an aircraft from the ground (compared with vertical takeoff), and hence increases the payload and range that can be achieved for a given thrust. For instance, the Harrier is incapable of taking off vertically with full weapons and fuel load.  Hence V/STOL aircraft generally use a runway if it is available.  I.e. short takeoff and vertical landing ([[STOVL]]) or conventional takeoff and landing ([[CTOL]]) operation is preferred to [[VTOL]] operation.

V/STOL was developed to allow fast jets to be operated from clearings in forests, from very short runways, and from small [[aircraft carrier]]s that would previously only have been able to carry [[helicopter]]s.

The main advantage of V/STOL aircraft is closer basing to the enemy, which reduces response time and tanker support requirements. In the case of the [[Falklands War]], it also permitted high-performance fighter air cover and ground attack without a large aircraft carrier equipped with [[aircraft catapult]].

==Lists of V/STOL aircraft==

This is a partial list; there have been many designs for V/STOL aircraft.

===Vectored thrust===
* [[Hawker P.1127|Hawker P.1127/Kestrel]]/[[Harrier jump jet|Harrier]]; four rotating nozzles for vectored thrust of fan and jet exhaust.

===Tilt-jet===
* [[Bell XF-109]]
* [[Bell 65]]
* [[EWR VJ 101]]

===Tilt-rotor===
* [[AgustaWestland AW609]] (originally Bell 609)
* [[AgustaWestland Project Zero]] technology demonstrator
* [[Bell XV-3]]
* [[Bell XV-15]]
* [[Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey]] (scale up of XV-15)
* [[Bell V-280 Valor]]

===Tilt-wing===
* [[Curtiss-Wright X-19]] – four rotating propellers, tilt-wing.
* [[Canadair CL-84 Dynavert]], two [[turboprop]] tilt-wing 
* [[LTV XC-142]] four-engine tilt-wing cross-shafted [[turboprop]]
* [[Bell X-22]] rotating ducted propellers. Small transport prototype. Slightly smaller than V-22 Osprey.
* [[Hiller X-18]]

===Separate thrust and lift===
* [[Dornier Do 31]] Jet transport with podded vector nozzles and lift engines
* [[Kamov Ka-22]]
* [[Lockheed XV-4 Hummingbird]]
* [[Dassault Balzac V]] (V stands for vertical and is a modified Mirage III)
* [[Dassault Mirage IIIV]] the first VTOL capable of supersonic flight (Mach 2.03 during tests)
* [[Fokker/Republic D-24 Alliance]]
* Ryan [[XV-5 Vertifan|XV-5]]. Fans in wings driven by engine exhaust gas.
* [[VFW VAK 191B]] Attack fighter similar to Harrier but supersonic dash speed, smaller wings and lift engines. Flown, but not operational.
* [[Yakovlev Yak-38]]
* [[Yakovlev Yak-141]]
* [[Short SC.1]]

===Supersonic===
Although many aircraft have been proposed and built, with a few being tested, the F-35B is the first and only supersonic V/STOL aircraft to have reached operational service, having entered service in 2016.<ref>[http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003175295 "Report: F-35 Work Falls Behind Two More Years."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727083410/http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003175295 |date=2009-07-27 }} ''CQ Politics'', 23 July 2009.</ref>
* [[Bell D-188A]] Mach 2 swivelling engines, mockup stage
* [[EWR VJ 101]] Mach 2 fighter, flown to Mach 1.04 but not operational
* [[Dassault Mirage IIIV]] Delta wing Mach 2 fighter with lift engines, first VTOL capable of supersonic and Mach 2 flight (Mach 2.03 during tests), not operational
* Hawker Siddeley HS 138 Strike fighter with lift fans, It was not completed
* [[Hawker Siddeley P.1017]] Lift engines with thrust vectoring. It was not completed 
* [[Hawker Siddeley P.1154]] M1.7 Supersonic Harrier. It was not completed 
* Hawker Siddeley P.1184-16 Dash 18
* Hawker Siddeley P.1217
* [[Republic AP-100]] strike fighter concept
* [[Convair Model 200]] Lift engines plus swivel tailpipe, not built
* [[Rockwell XFV-12]] Built with complex "window blind" wings but could not lift its own weight
* [[Yakovlev Yak-141]] Lift engines plus swivel tailpipe
* [[Lockheed Martin X-35|Lockheed Martin X-35B]] / [[Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II|F-35B]] uses a vectored-thrust tailpipe (the [[Pratt & Whitney F135]]) plus a shaft-driven [[Rolls-Royce LiftSystem|lifting fan]]. It is the first aircraft capable of demonstrating transition from short take-off to supersonic flight to vertical landing on the same sortie.<ref name="ss-hover">Kjelgaard, Chris (Senior Editor). [http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/071221-how-f-35b-stovl-propulsion-system-works.html "From Supersonic to Hover: How the F-35 Flies."] ''space.com,'' 21 December 2007.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://vertipedia.vtol.org/vstol/wheel.htm V/STOL Wheel of Misfortune]

{{commonscat|V/STOL aircraft}}

{{Types of take-off and landing}}

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[[Category:Types of take-off and landing]]