The Impact of VTOL Aircraft on Airport Design and Development

Extract

I would like to make this talk as non-provocative as possible. I want to talk about VTOL: I do not want to compare VTOL with STOL, although it is necessary to make a comparison with ordinary aeroplanes because one must have an economic datum.

Hawker Siddeley's interest in VTOL, or more properly V/STOL, arises at least partly from experience on the Harrier. Unlike the Harrier, future civil aircraft will of course need to have multiple engines of very low jet velocity, for low noise and safety. These VTOL elements have however already been demonstrated in flight separately (on such aircraft as the SC-1, Dornier Do31 and Ryan XV-5) but not yet together. From what we know about the trends of engine technology, and from a fairly intensive project and research programme on civil V/STOL over the past few years, we have arrived at V/STOL designs with operating costs and noise characteristics rather better than those suggested by BAC. However, I think we would agree with a very great deal of what Mr. Quick has said about STOL. In our view, VTOL and STOL are by no means mutually exclusive … there is likely to be a future market for all kinds of aeroplanes whether they are STOL, V/STOL, RTOL, CTOL, or whatever.