Ryan X-13 Vertijet

The Ryan X-13 Vertijet is an American experimental jet aircraft built by the Ryan Aeronautical Company for the United States Air Force, flown for the first time in 1955 to demonstrate that a fixed-wing jet aircraft could take off and land vertically, resting tail-down on a small trailer-mounted platform rather than requiring a runway, before transitioning to normal horizontal flight. Built around a single turbojet engine mounted along the aircraft's centerline and using swiveling exhaust nozzles and small reaction-control jets for stability during the vertical phases of flight, the X-13 successfully completed full transitions between vertical and horizontal flight in test flights, but the demanding and hazardous nature of vertical jet landings led the Air Force to conclude the concept was impractical for operational use, and the program ended after only two prototypes were built.