Ryan XV-5 Vertifan

The Ryan XV-5 Vertifan was a jet-powered V/STOL experimental aircraft of the 1960s. The United States Army commissioned the Ryan VZ-11-RY, redesignated XV-5A in 1962, in 1961, alongside the Lockheed VZ-10 Hummingbird. Two General Electric J85 turbojets gave forward flight, and their exhaust drove General Electric X353-5 lift fans buried in the wings plus a smaller fan in the nose for pitch control, which together gave vertical lift of about 16,000 pounds-force, nearly three times the thrust of the engines as turbojets. The aircraft proved the concept of ducted lift fans, but transition between vertical and horizontal flight was difficult and abrupt, and the project was cancelled after multiple fatal crashes unrelated to the lift system. The second airframe was rebuilt as the XV-5B and tested until 1971, and it is now in storage at the United States Army Aviation Museum.