A brief history (and the future) of high-speed vertical lift aircraft
Coffee or Die | September 28, 2021
This article by Carl Forsling was originally published by Coffee or Die.
“Hitting him where he ain’t” has been a basic fundamental of warfare since the beginning. Accomplishing that on larger and larger scales has been a primary objective of military leaders ever since. Victory after achieving an “envelopment” is almost always easier. The best way to do that has generally been to move faster than the enemy in order to attack from another axis, originally by horse or by ship.
Eventually, the airplane allowed the deployment of troops faster and farther and the ability to go over the enemy, not just around them. The problem with airborne troops is that they are relatively immobile and difficult to resupply after parachuting in. It took the combat deployment of the helicopter by the Marines in Korea to make “vertical envelopment” a reality.
But helicopters still aren’t close to having the speed and range of airplanes. At high speeds, helicopter rotors encounter aerodynamic effects that prevent them from generating lift — keeping them from exceeding about 200 knots.
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/a-brief-history-and-the-future-of-high-speed-vertical-lift-aircraft/
