Beating Gravity - Lockheed XFV-1 Salmon

The US Navy had long held an interest in the VTOL aircraft. Both they and the USAF had issued VTOL study contracts as early as 1947, and in 1950 the Navy held a competition to produce a VTOL fighter with conventional flight performance which could compete favourably with contemporary fighter aircraft.

The XFV-1 was one resulting design, with a bulky forward fuselage housing a turboprop engine driving a pair of 16 ft. (4.88 M.) contra-rotating propellors, and a gimbal-mounted seat for the pilot allowing 45 deg. of swivel. The cruciform tail unit ended with castoring tail-wheels.

The XFV-1 was named the Salmon after the chief engineering test pilot, Herman "Fish" Salmon. Neither he nor "Skeets" Coleman, who tested the rival Convair XFY-1, particularly liked the powerful turboprop providing the only means of control in VTOL mode.

It meant that descent rate on landing could only be slowed by jiggling the throttle and trying to time the lag until the engine responded.

For initial flight tests the XFV-1 was fitted with a temporary conventional fixed undercarriage, and with this made its first flight in March 1954.

Transition to hovering flight was achieved at least once. The program was cancelled before vertical takeoff, with the proposed 7,100 hp T40-A-14 engine, could be attempted.

Related links:

More about the XFV-1 Salmon from the Edwards Air Force base website.