Kaman K-16B

The Kaman K-16B was an experimental tiltwing vertical takeoff aircraft built in 1959 for the United States Navy to test a concept in which the whole wing tilts upward for hovering. Kaman rebuilt a Grumman JRF-5 Goose amphibian, joining its fuselage and tail to a new tilting wing carrying two General Electric turboshaft engines that drove large three bladed propellers, which the company called rotorprops. The wing could tilt only to 50 degrees, so the rotorprop was expected to supply enough thrust for vertical operation. After delivery in late 1959 the aircraft went through wind tunnel testing and some tethered hops, but it never made a free flight and the project was cancelled in 1962. The prototype is displayed at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.