Vertical Take-Off Fighter Aircraft

As long ago as World War 2, designs were underway for vertical take off aircraft, and the Germans were the first to conceptualise the idea during the last phase of the war, when engineers conceived the Focke Wulf Triebflügel as a defence against the ever-increasing Allied bombing raids on central Germany. It was a Vertical Take-Off and Landing 'tailsitter' interceptor intended for the defence of critical war factories and key areas without suitable nearby airfields for combat aircraft. The ...