Original vintage Cold War 1966 Ling-Temco-Vought advertisement for its XC-142 airplane vertical and/or short take-off and landing (V/STOL), "...all the runway it needs." What's a V/STOL? Think the iconic Bell V-22 Osprey, but half a century older.
Dimensions: Approx. 8 inches wide by 11 inches high.
"The Ling-Temco-Vought XC-142 looks remarkably like an airplane. Its four turboprop engines will give it a speed of 365 kts at 25,000 ft, a cruise speed of 250 at sea level and a rate of climb from 5,500 to 7,200 fpm, depending on the mission. When it's acting like an airplane, the XC-142 will carry a 20,000-lb payload 400 miles using high-altitude, optimum-speed cruise on two engines."
"Just on difference. The XC-142 is sitting on all the runway it needs..."
The XC-142 V/STOL Airplane
The Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) XC-142 is a tiltwing experimental aircraft designed to investigate the operational suitability of vertical/short takeoff and landing (V/STOL) transports. One of the more unusual V/STOL aircraft flown by the U.S. military services, the four-engine aircraft ably demonstrated its capabilities, including operations from an aircraft carrier. Despite successful trials, however, the service sponsors—Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force—each eventually pulled out of the program for lack of interest.
An XC-142A first flew conventionally on 29 September 1964, and completed its first transitional flight on 11 January 1965 by taking off vertically, changing to forward flight, and finally landing vertically. Its service sponsors pulled out of the program one by one, and it eventually ended due to a lack of interest after demonstrating its capabilities successfully.
In 1959 the United States Army, Navy and Air Force began work on the development of a prototype V/STOL aircraft that could augment helicopters in transport-type missions. Specifically they were interested in designs with longer range and higher speeds than existing helicopters, in order to support operations over longer distances, or in the case of the United States Marine Corps, from further offshore.
The original call for bids had been drawn up as a replacement for the Sikorsky HR2S, with a payload on the order of 10,000 lb (4,500 kg). BuWeps released a revised specification that specified the same payload, but extended the operational radius to 250 miles (400 km) and increased the cruising airspeed to 250–300 knots (460–560 km/h) and the maximum airspeed to 300–400 knots (560–740 km/h). However, for the Marine Corps mission, the requirement stated that the fuel load could be reduced so that the maximum gross weight would not exceed 35,000 pounds (16,000 kg), as long as a 100-nautical-mile (190 km) radius was maintained.
Vought responded with a proposal combining engineering from their own design arm, as well as Ryan and Hiller, who had more extensive helicopter experience. Their proposal won the design contest, and a contract for five prototypes was signed in early 1962 with first flight specified for July 1964. The design was initially known as the Vought-Ryan-Hiller XC-142, but when Vought became part of the Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) conglomerate this naming was dropped.
During the prototype development the Navy decided to exit the program, due to the concern the strong propeller downwash would make it difficult to operate. Their existing HR2S fleet had a ground pressure of about 7.5 psi (500 hPa), and proved to blow people about on the ground and stir up considerable amounts of debris. The C-142 was predicted to have an even higher loading of 10 psi (700 hPa), which they believed would limit it to operations to and from prepared landing pads and was therefore unsuitable for assault operations.
The first prototype made its first conventional flight in late September 1964, first hover in late December 1964, and first transition in January 1965. The first XC-142A was delivered to the Air Force test team in July 1965. During the XC-142A program, a total of 420 hours were flown in 488 flights, with five XC-142As flown by 39 different military and civilian pilots. Tests included carrier operations, simulated rescues, paratroop drops, and low-level cargo extraction.
During testing the aircraft's cross-linked driveshaft proved to be its Achilles heel, as the shaft resulted in excessive vibration and noise, resulting in a high pilot workload. Additionally, it proved susceptible to problems due to wing flexing; shaft problems along with operator errors also resulted in a number of hard landings causing damage. One crash occurred as a result of a failure of the driveshaft to the tail rotor, causing three fatalities.
As a result, the aircraft never proceeded beyond the prototype stage, and only five XC-142As were built during the 1960s. Of the five aircraft built, only one still survives, now on display in the fourth building of the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. It was flown to the museum in 1970 and moved from the experimental aircraft hangar to the fourth building of the museum's main complex in November 2015.
Vought
Vought was the name of several related American aerospace firms. These have included, in the past, Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought-Sikorsky, LTV Aerospace (part of Ling-Temco-Vought), Vought Aircraft Companies, and Vought Aircraft Industries.
The first incarnation of Vought was established by Chance M. Vought and Birdseye Lewis in 1917. In 1928, it was acquired by United Aircraft and Transport Corporation, which a few years later became United Aircraft Corporation; this was the first of many reorganizations and buyouts. During the 1920s and 1930s, Vought Aircraft and Chance Vought specialized in carrier-based aircraft for the United States Navy, by far its biggest customer. Chance Vought produced thousands of planes during World War II, including the F4U Corsair.
Vought became independent again in 1954, and was purchased by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) in 1961, and the company designed and produced a variety of planes and missiles throughout the Cold War. Vought was sold by LTV and owned in various degrees by the Carlyle Group and Northrop Grumman in the early 1990s. It was then fully bought by Carlyle, renamed Vought Aircraft Industries, with headquarters in Dallas, Texas. In June 2010, the Carlyle Group sold Vought to the Triumph Group.
