Hi Chris,
I am tragically familiar with the Ryan X-13. Lou Everett, mentioned in the
article, was killed in one of these. Lou was a college classmate of mine,
and gave me my first stick time in an airplane. He was towing research
sailplanes to 7000 ft in early morning air, using a repowered Stearman. He
allowed me to ride up with him, and, after release, to fly the Stearman down
and back over the field to drop the tow rope.
A member of the Mississippi Air Guard, Lou would buzz the campus in his P-47
ride. Fond memories of a fellow student whose life was cut too short.
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Trask" <christrask@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>; "Olympus Camera
Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, June 24, 2012 12:45 PM
Subject: Re: [OM] IMG: More Skippers
> >
>> I've been following with interest the latest accidents with the
>> Osprey. As a young 2nd Lieutenant assigned to the Wright-
>> Patterson AFB Wind Tunnel Branch, I conducted the first wind
>> tunnel tests of Bell's entry in a USAF competition for advanced
>> vertical lift machines. This was in 1952. There were also
>> entries from McDonnell and Sikorsky. This Bell Convertiplane,
>> designed by the late Bob Lichton, was the forerunner of the
>> Osprey. The complexities of such an aircraft were seen early
>> on, so it is no surprise to me that it took over half a century
>> to get them into service. And the complexities still haunt them.
>>
>
> Some of the more interesting experiments with VTOL/STOL aircraft were
> the Vought XF5U "Flying Flapjack"
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_XF5U
>
> the Ryan VZ-3 Vertiplane:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_VZ-3_Vertiplane
>
> the Convair XFY1 "Flying Pogo Stick", which had three-bladed
> contra-rotating propellers and small fixed wheels at the tips of four
> wings:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_XFY_Pogo
>
> and finally the Ryan X-13 Vertijet:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_X-13_Vertijet
>
> which was "landed" by engaging a hook in the bottom of the aircraft to a
> cable on a short tower. Uh-huh!
>
> Chris
> --
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