Apr 082009
Reported to NASA in July, 1977, was a one-tenth-scale wind tunnel model of a twin-engined VTOL transport designed by Rockwell International. The engines appear to be Pegasus derivatives; instead of two vectorable nozzles on either side of the engine, these nacelles only had a single, noticably larger, nozzle on either side.
While the aircraft is described only as a “transport,” it was very likely designed for the US Navy’s “Type A” V/STOL contest to develop a subsonic ASW plane, from about 1977.
3 Responses to “VTOL transport”
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Sure doesn’t look like a Pegasus engine to me… way too squat.
The engine side view shows ducts for a “fan power supply” which implies that the main engine is some sort of gas generator mounted inside the fuselage, and its high pressure exhaust is ducted out to power these wing mounted ducted fans via their “tip turbine blades”, somewhat like the propulsion system for the Ryan XV-5A rotated by ninety degrees. As the top view shows, each fan exhausts through two nozzles separated by a central wall.
>Sure doesn’t look like a Pegasus engine to me… way too squat.
Keep in mind that this is a wind tunnel model, so there’ll be differences. The fact that this is a subscale model also explains the “fan power supply.”
However, it likely does represent some different engine.
i agree with pat flannery, there’s no room for the pegasus core in the nacelle.