The Unwanted Blog

This time, a halfway split between a tiltrotor and a tiltwing… a single tiltable prop on each wing, with sizable wing panels outboard of that that tilt with the prop. This would allow the outboard panel to retail some control authority while in hover, and would reduce the drag (and thus loss of effective thrust) created by having the large wing entirely face-on to the props downwash. Unlike the V-22, the engines are not in the outboard nacelles, but are located in a row atop the wing center section.

Somewhat like the preceding tilt-wing C-130, this concept called for a wing that would tilt only a few degrees, but would have a complex series of extendable flaps on the trailing edge. On the underside of the wing, this would force that portion of the thrust directly downwards. On the upper surface of the wing, the Coanda Effect would do much the same, directing the thrust downwards.

Note that while the turboprop engines are mounted slightly above the leading edge of the wing, the props themselves are located well below. This was done to locate as much of the thrust below the wing as possible, and to have the bulk of it directed against the flaps. A complex and almost certainly prone-to-malfunction series of gearing would be required for this. As with the tile-wing, this version would not be able to take off or land conventionally, and the prop-rotors would hit the ground unless the wing was tilted up.

From the same study, a C-130 with a more or less conventional tilt-wing, and a fan in the tail for pitch control.