Lockheed XFV (Salmon)

The History of Lockheed XFV (Salmon)

Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) fighter jets have always been on the minds of aeronautical engineers once a viable source of thrust became available. The field was further developed during World War II (1939-1945) - at least conceptually - with one of the most high profile entries of the time being the proposed German Focke-Wulf "Triebflugel" fighter. The unique aircraft relies on three ramjet engines supported at the ends of three separate wings, which in turn rotate around a tubular fuselage that houses the sole pilot.

The aircraft lands upright and achieves level flight after reaching the desired altitude. Needless to say, this ambitious project never materialized and remains one of the many "paper planes" maintained by German engineers and Air Ministry leaders, especially in the latter stages of the war.

In the post-World War II period, engineers continued to develop many aircraft within the confines of peaceful environments, but with the added benefit of a well-established field of turboprops and turbojets. This prompted several prominent countries to begin work on viable VTOL aircraft, resulting in products such as the American Lockheed XFV-1 and Convair XFY-1 "Pogo" and the French SNECMA C-450 "Coleopter".

All of these designs have physical and operational similarities - they stand upright during landing or takeoff (the "tailstock" design), keep a pilot close to the nose, and use some form of thrust - either Jets or propellers - to do this reach the minimum operating altitude before transitioning to level flight.

It was soon discovered that the A-6 engine could not achieve the required VTOL thrust, so the XFV-1 prototype had to be equipped with a bulky wheeled landing gear system consisting of double-supported main legs mounted below the vehicle mass Composition. This mount is a temporary solution, but not retractable, and is only used for testing during the XFV-1 level flight phase.

In March 1951, two prototypes were ordered from Lockheed and three from CONVAIR, the Lockheed model being the first to fly. A brief test flight was recorded on December 23, 1953, but the real official first flight did not take place until June 16, 1954. The XFV-1 was capable of 32 flights in total, but was never used for the transition from vertical to horizontal flight (and back) due to the unavailability of the YT40-A-14 engine.

However, it is also capable of achieving a vertical position with a brief hover after a horizontal takeoff (like a traditional aircraft).

The Allison YT40-A-14 engine encountered its own problems and was unsuccessful, which played a major role in the XFV-1 program which ended in June 1955. Additionally, naval authorities recognized that the aircraft required experienced, stable controllers and would never demonstrate conventional fighter-type performance in combat.

As such, there is little evidence for further funding for his research.

Of the two prototypes Lockheed completed, only one has ever flown. The "FV-2" is a production-grade version of the XFV-1 proposed by Lockheed for the U.S. Navy, comparable to the Allison T54-A-16 turboprop for the required performance, and includes a mounting Radar unit on the nose, more comprehensive armor protection and a complete armor kit.

This variant has never been implemented. Both prototypes were salvaged from junkyards, one in Florida and the other in California.

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