See also: V/STOL A short take-off and vertical landing aircraft
is a fixed-wing aircraft that is able to take off from a short runway and land vertically.
The formal NATO definition is: A Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing aircraft
is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of clearing a 15 m obstacle within 450 m of commencing
take-off run, and capable of landing vertically.
On aircraft carriers, non-catapult-assisted, fixed-wing short takeoffs are accomplished
with the use of thrust vectoring, which may also be used in conjunction with a runway
"ski-jump".
Use of STOVL tends to allow aircraft to carry a larger payload as compared to during VTOL
use, while still only requiring a short runway.
The most famous examples are the Hawker Siddeley Harrier and the Sea Harrier.
Although technically VTOL aircraft, they are operationally STOVL aircraft due to the extra
weight carried at take-off for fuel and armaments.
The same is true of the F-35B Lightning II, which demonstrated VTOL capability in test
flights but is operationally STOVL.
History
In 1951, the Lockheed XFV-1 and the Convair XFY tailsitters were both designed around
the Allison YT40 turboprop engine driving contra-rotating propellers.
The British Hawker P.1127 took off vertically in 1960, and demonstrated conventional take-off
in 1961.
It was developed into the Hawker Siddeley Harrier which flew in 1967.
In 1962, Lockheed built the XV-4 Hummingbird for the U.S. Army.
It sought to "augment" available thrust by injecting the engine exhaust into an ejector
pump in the fuselage.
First flying vertically in 1963, it suffered a fatal crash in 1964.
It was converted into the XV-4B Hummingbird for the U.S. Air Force as a testbed for separate,
vertically mounted lift engines, similar to those used in the Yak-38 Forger.
That plane flew and later crashed in 1969.
The Ryan XV-5 Vertifan, which was also built for the U.S. Army at the same time as the
Hummingbird, experimented with gas-driven lift fans.
That plane used fans in the nose and each wing, covered by doors which resembled half
garbage can lids when raised.
However, it crashed twice, and proved to generate a disappointing amount of lift, and was difficult
to transition to horizontal flight.
Of dozens of VTOL and V/STOL designs tried from the 1950s to 1980s, only the subsonic
Hawker Siddeley Harrier and Yak-38 Forger reached operational status, with the Forger
being withdrawn after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Boeing had studied another odd-looking supersonic fighter in the 1960s which never made it beyond
photos in Aviation Week.
Rockwell International built, and then abandoned, the Rockwell XFV-12 supersonic fighter which
had an unusual wing which opened up like window blinds to create an ejector pump for vertical
flight.
It never generated enough lift to get off the ground despite developing 20,000 lbf of
thrust.
The French had a nominally Mach 2 Dassault Mirage IIIV fitted with no less than 8 lift
engines that flew, but did not have enough space for fuel or payload for combat missions.
The German EWR VJ 101 used swiveling engines mounted on the wingtips with fuselage mounted
lift engines, and the VJ 101C X1 reached supersonic flight on 29 July 1964.
The supersonic Hawker Siddeley P.1154, which competed with the Mirage IIIV for use in NATO,
was cancelled even as the aircraft were being built.
NASA uses the abbreviation SSTOVL for Supersonic Short Take-Off / Vertical Landing, and as
of 2012, the X-35B/F-35B are the only aircraft to conform with this combination within one
flight.
The experimental Mach 1.7 Yakovlev Yak-141 did not find an operational customer, but
its rotating rear nozzle technology found good use with the F-35B.
The F-35 Lightning II is expected to enter service by 2016.
Larger STOVL designs were considered, the Armstrong Whitworth AW.681 cargo aircraft
was under development when cancelled in 1965.
The Dornier Do 31 got as far as three experimental aircraft before cancellation in 1970.
Although mostly a VTOL design, the V-22 Osprey has increased payload when taking off from
a short runway.
References