VTOL – Aerospace Projects Review Blog

Ryan COIN

hi-rez, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, VTOL No Responses »

Sep 172025

Ryan art of a Counter Insurgency (COIN) concept from the 1960s. This aircraft is somewhat similar to the OV-10 Bronco but with the important distinction of having a rotor for VTOL capability. For forward flight the 3-bladed rotor would largely stow within a large saucer-shaped rotor hub to decrease drag. Unfortunately, this is all I have on this concept; if anyone has anything further, I’d love to see it.

The high-rez (600 dpi) scan of the artwork has been made available as an “extra” to APR Monthly Historical Documents Program subscribers/Patrons above the $10 level. If you’d like to get in on such things, or would simply like to help me procure and save such rare aerospace ephemera, consider subscribing. This can be done either through Patreon or Paypal, as described here:

https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/monthly.htm

July 2025 APR Rewards

CAD Diagrams, hi-rez, launch vehicles, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, rockets, transports, VTOL No Responses »

Aug 012025

Rewards for July, 2025 have been released. These include:

Document: “GETOL Technical Merits & Status,” General Dynamics/Convair, AD-VTOL-41, February, 1963. Report on Ground Effect Take off and Landing studies.

Document: “Flying Cranes,” Sikorsky, 1959. Brochure describing and illustrating heavy lift helicopters built and projected.

Document: “Nova and Post-Nova Propulsion Summary,” Rocketdyne presentation, 1962, describing extremely powerful liquid rocket systems for vehicles bigger than Saturn V.

Diagram: SR-71 pilots instrument panels

CAD Diagram: Douglas DC-8-1004, 1945 design for pusher-prop small airliner

Subscribers/Patrons for the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program not only receive a monthly collection of aerospace goodies such as these, but can also pick up back issues all the way to 2014.

aerospaceprojectsreview.com/monthly.htm

A note on the June rewards

fighter, hi-rez, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, Patreon catalog, stealth, VTOL 1 Response »

Jun 302025

Once again there will be no voting on APR rewards this month. This is down to a few things:

1) Voting in general has been *way* down. I suspect a revamp of the catalog is needed.

2) Items I tried to procure this month proved unprocurable. Partly due to them being insanely expensive; partly due to someone else out there being fabulously wealthy and snapping them up anyway.

3) Things came up. I’m finding, with some concern, that the end of the month seems to be a magnet for Things Coming Up.

So, subscribers and Patrons, there was no catalog release this month. Rest assured, though, that within the next day or two rewards *will* go out, chosen by yours truly, Benevolent Dictator.

And while the things I really wanted proved unobtainable, I did get a few things off ebay. Sadly these are too late for this month, but should, postal system willing, be available next. All of them, gratingly, were more expensive than they should’ve been, but that’s the trend with this stuff anymore. Included:

Six-foot-long blueprint of the USS Akron “flying aircraft carrier:”

Four Sikorsky brochures:

Artwork of a Lockheed ASTOVL (I could have used this when creating a diagram of the craft in the recently released US Stealth Fighter Projects):

Artwork of a 1960’s Ryan VTOL COIN concept. I’ve been after this art, and more information on the design, for about 35 years now after first seeing bad B&W versions of this in Av Week. I’d pay real money for a design report/proposal/brochure. Anyone?

August 2024 APR Rewards

bomber, CAD Diagrams, hi-rez, launch vehicles, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, rockets, space shuttle, spaceplane, stealth, transports, VTOL No Responses »

Sep 012024

The rewards went out this AM bright and early. They include:

Diagram: Two sheets of Rocketdyne schematics for the Space Shuttle Main Engine and propulsion system

Document: “B-1B New Strength for America’s Defense” An early 80’s brochure on the then-forthcoming B-1B

Document: “Aerojet propulsion for Space Systems,” a very nicely illustrated booklet on the AJ10-137, the main engine of the Apollo CSM

Document: Two articles in French on VTOL Aircraft from the ICARE revue De L’Aviation Francaise “Salon 69”

CAD Diagram: WIP of the Boeing Model 2000-201 VTOL stealth spec ops transport

If you are interested in helping to preserve this sort of aerospace history, consider signing up for the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program for as little as $1.50 per month:

https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/monthly.htm

Cyanotypes: closing up shop

bomber, Dyna Soar, hi-rez, hypersonic, jetliner, launch vehicles, nukes, Recon, research, rockets, space shuttle, spacecraft, spaceplane, stealth, transports, VTOL No Responses »

Jul 082024

I’ve shut down production of cyanotype blueprints for the time being. What I’ve got is what there is; I’ll leave the catalog page up while I still have a supply, but I’ll shut it down when I run low and sell the rest on ebay. Get ’em while ya can.

https://www.aerospaceprojectsreview.com/catalog/cyan.htm

Bell-Boeing LHX Tiltrotor art

VTOL 1 Response »

Apr 072024

Artwork circa 1983 depicting a one-man combat tiltrotor tearing up a column of Soviet armor. At this time the Light Helicopter – eXperimental program included the possibility of tiltrotors as well as conventional choppers. In the end the RAH-66 won… and was then cancelled before series production. Tiltrotors showed promise, but also promised to be incredibly challenging for a single pilot to manage.

Fairchild M-232

Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, VTOL No Responses »

Nov 252023

A late 1950’s project from Fairchild Aircraft for a STOL aircraft, the M-232. The propulsion system was fixed, but the wings were given large flaps that would direct the bulk of the propwash more or less downwards. Coupled with the extreme nose-up attitude on the landing gear, this would almost be enough for vertical takeoff and landing. An aircraft like this would be used in a role much like that of the OV-10 Bronco.

This came from a series of articles that have been scanned and made available as “Extras” to APR Patrons and subscribers at the $11 and up level. If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.

Vulcan “Starfire”

transports, VTOL No Responses »

Oct 102023

Sadly not a lot of info on this. The Vulcan Aircraft (Houston, TX) “Starfire” concept from the mid/late 1980s used lift vans and vectored thrust for VTOL. Both military and civilian uses planned. Seems kinda reasonable, if perhaps a bit light on power, The basic design seems like it might be more practical today, though of course someone would try to make it all-electric.

Bell D188A Art

bomber, fighter, hi-rez, Monthly Historical Documents Program, Patreon, VTOL No Responses »

Jul 202023

A cutaway illustration of the Bell D188A VTOL strike-fighter from the late 50’s/early 60’s. This Mach 2 aircraft would have used 8 small turbojets… two lift/cruise in the tail, two vertically mounted in the forward fuselage for lift and two each in wingtip nacelles that could tilt for VTOL or horizontal thrust. Often referred to as the XF-109, it was only called that in Bell PR material.. it never officially received that designation. The artwork below was scanned years ago at the Jay Miller archives.

There is more available on the D188A in two sources I highly recommend (because I wrote them):

1: Aerospace Projects Review issue V2N4. Jam-packed with info, diagrams, artwork of this and several variants.

2: US Supersonic Bomber Projects Vol. 2, which uses the D188A as the cover image.

If you’d like the full resolution version of the cutaway artwork, it has been uploaded to the 2023-07 APR Extras Dropbox folder, available to all $4 and up Patrons/Subscribers. If you would like to help fund the acquisition and preservation of such things, please consider signing on either for the APR Patreon or the APR Monthly Historical Documents Program.

US Supersonic Bomber Projects Vol. 2

bomber, hypersonic, nukes, rockets, US Supersonic Bomber Projects Vol 2, VTOL 2 Responses »

May 212023

My next book, released for pre-order and to be shipped in a few weeks:

US Supersonic Bomber Projects 2

“The threat posed by the Soviet Union throughout the postwar period coincided with an explosion of innovation and can-do attitude among America’s aircraft manufacturers. Challenging requirements and experimentation resulted in a huge variety of designs for aircraft powered by nuclear reaction, aircraft capable of flying faster than Mach 5, advanced bombers able to land and take-off from the surface of the ocean, VTOL fighters and bombers, and many others. Aerospace engineer Scott Lowther collects some of the most radical and beyond-the-state-of-the-art ‘secret projects’ in this – the second volume of his US projects series.”

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