The Ryan X-13 Vertijet (company designation Model 69) was an experimental
vertical take-off and landing
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-win ...
(VTOL) jet aircraft built by
Ryan Aeronautical
The Ryan Aeronautical Company was founded by T. Claude Ryan in San Diego, California, in 1934. It became part of Teledyne in 1969, and of Northrop Grumman when the latter company purchased Ryan in 1999. Ryan built several historically and tech ...
and flown in the United States in the 1950s. The main objective of the project was to demonstrate the ability of a pure jet to vertically takeoff, hover, transition to horizontal forward flight, and vertically land.
Development
Just after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Ryan engineers wondered whether the Ryan/U.S. Navy
FR-1 Fireball, which had a
thrust-to-weight ratio
Thrust-to-weight ratio is a dimensionless ratio of thrust to weight of a rocket, jet engine, propeller engine, or a vehicle propelled by such an engine that is an indicator of the performance of the engine or vehicle.
The instantaneous thrust-to-w ...
of 1 at low fuel quantities, would take off vertically. The
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
's
Bureau of Aeronautics
The Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was the U.S. Navy's material-support organization for naval aviation from 1921 to 1959. The bureau had "cognizance" (''i.e.'', responsibility) for the design, procurement, and support of naval aircraft and relate ...
in 1947 awarded Ryan a contract, originally under the designation F3R, to investigate the development of a vertically launched jet fighter. This was part of a program to evaluate the feasibility of submarine-based aircraft. Ryan conducted remote controlled VTOL tethered rig tests from 1947 to 1950 and a flying rig in 1951. Ryan was awarded an
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
contract in 1953 to develop an actual flying jet-powered VTOL aircraft, which was given the designation X-13. The aircraft was designed using calculations on a
REAC 100, and two prototypes were ultimately built.
The Ryan X-13 Vertijet was long. It was just large enough to accommodate the single-place cockpit with a tilting seat and the thrust
Rolls-Royce Avon
The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of ai ...
turbojet. The high-mounted delta wing of the aircraft had a wingspan of only and was capped with flat
endplates
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates,Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristic i ...
. The nose of the aircraft had a hook on the underside and a short pole for gauging distance from the trailer. The hook was used to hang the Vertijet from the vertical trailer bed landing platform. After the aircraft was secured vertically, the trailer was lowered to horizontal and then used to transport the aircraft on the ground. Pitch and yaw control in hover were provided by
vectored engine thrust. Roll control was provided by "puffer" jets (also known as "jet reaction control") mounted outboard of the wingtip endplates.
The first prototype (#54-1619) was fitted with temporary landing gear and made its first horizontal flight on December 10, 1955. Later, it made full horizontal to vertical attitude conversions and back again at altitude. The first prototype then had the landing gear replaced with a tail-mounted framework that held it in a vertical attitude on the ground. Using this rig, hooking practice was conducted. The second prototype (#54-1620), on April 11, 1957, made a vertical take-off from the vertically raised trailer, transitioned to horizontal flight and back again. It then returned to the vertical trailer and landed by hooking the landing wire. Flight tests were performed by two test pilots: Ryan's Chief Test Pilot
Peter F. "Pete" Girard, and Ryan Test Pilot
W. L. "Lou" Everett.
On July 28–29, 1957, the X-13 was demonstrated in Washington, D.C. It crossed the
Potomac River
The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
and landed at the Pentagon.
The Air Force chose not to continue development of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet because of the lack of an operational requirement.
Operational history
![Ryan X-13 test, view from above](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Ryan_X-13_test%2C_view_from_above.jpg)
The X-13 was designed to investigate vertical takeoff, horizontal flight transition, and return to vertical flight for landing. The first prototype of the X-13 was equipped with temporary tricycle landing gear. The X-13 was flown conventionally on December 10, 1955 to test its aerodynamic characteristics. The Vertijet was then fitted with a temporary "tail sitting" rig. On May 28, 1956, it was flown from the ground in a vertical position to test its hovering qualities. The X-13 VertiJet completed its first full-cycle flight at
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...
, California, on April 11, 1957, when it took off vertically from its mobile trailer, angled over into a horizontal attitude, and flew for several minutes. The X-13 then transitioned to vertical flight and slowly descended back onto its trailer and landed.
Survivors
![Ryan X-13 Vertijet at NMUSAF](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Ryan_X-13_Vertijet_at_NMUSAF.jpg)
Only two X-13 aircraft were built and both are on public display:
*
Serial number
A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it.
Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist enti ...
''54-1619'' is on display at the
Gillespie Field
Gillespie Field is a county-owned public towered airport northeast of downtown San Diego, in El Cajon, San Diego County, California, United States.
History
: ''Section reference dates.''
In 1942 the United States Marine Corps chose a site wi ...
Annex of the
San Diego Air & Space Museum
San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM, formerly the San Diego Aerospace Museum) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California, United States. The museum is located in Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building, ...
. It is on loan from the Smithsonian's
National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States.
Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...
in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
*Serial number ''54-1620'' which was the Vertijet which made the full-cycle flight on April 11, 1957 was transferred to the
National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...
,
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...
, in May 1959.
[''United States Air Force Museum'' 1975, p. 72.] It is on display in the museum's Research and Development Hangar.
Specifications (X-13)
See also
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
Google books - Ryan X-13Ryan X-13 photosat the San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives
{{Authority control
X-13
1950s United States experimental aircraft
Tailless delta-wing aircraft
Single-engined jet aircraft
Tailsitter aircraft
Edwards Air Force Base
Aircraft first flown in 1955