Shelved parasitic aircraft project for the US Navy

[wrenchedmyspanner]

I enjoyed reading a thread in the Post War area today about the testing of a B-29 with wingtip F-84s (and all the other crazy ideas of the 50's - nuclear powered aircraft for example).

The mention of backwards landing aircraft in a short lived US Navy VSTOL program reminded me of another attempt at something similar in the 1980s (I think, though it could have been the late 1970s). The idea was for larger surface ships (NOT aircraft carriers) along the lines of a guided missile cruiser (can't recall the class they intended to use) to carry a special type of VTOL aircraft and thus allow for the presence of high speed aircraft when a carrier wasn't available.

The aircraft had a folding fuselage with the engines mounted on the rear half of the craft, hinged in such a way that the aircraft was not unlike a hummingbird as it disengaged from the ship and then the fuselage would straighten to horizontal as the engines pivoted on it's axis. At rest, the forward half with the cockpit would have been mounted on the navy vessel in a horizontal fashion with the rear half 'hanging' from it with the engines pointed downward. This may have gone no further than someones dream idea once more practical minded persons became involved.

Does anyone recall this idea? Do you remember any details of the aircraft? I'm just wondering how far it got (or if this was something I dreamed up when I was a kid).

[Matt308]

Don't recall this one. There were some VTOL counter-rotating helicopter UAVs capable of carrying torpedoes for anti-sub work, but I don't recall anything manned like you describe. Would love to see pics.