SCALED/HYBRID AEROSPACE SUPER STOL (SSTOL)
Not all transport designs have to look the same. Dan Kreigh's Super STOL design was both original and efficient...

Type: R/C demonstration model

Type:  

Program:  

Powerplant: unknown

Significant date: built and flown in 2001

The 1998/1999 AIAA Foundation Graduate Team Aircraft Design Competition was for a Super STOL (SSTOL) Carrier On-board Delivery aircraft to fulfill the needs of the US Navy for a Carrier On-board Delivery (COD) aircraft to replace the C-2 Greyhound. The objective was to design a SSTOL transport aircraft that could carry cargo or passengers to and from the center of cities and perform carrier on-board delivery chores for the navy. Design requirements included a takeoff ground roll of 300 ft, a landing ground roll of 400 ft, cruise at 350 knots with a range of up to 1500 nm with reserves, payload of 24 passengers and baggage for a commercial version or a military version with a 10,000 lb payload, capable of carrying two GE F110 engines for the F-14D, and a spot factor requirement of 60 feet by 29 feet.

The Hybrid SSTOL model, designed and built by Dan Kreigh, was the result of a design study done by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites for Canada's Hybrid AeroSpace International Company. The radio-controlled demonstration model was a 1/12th scale 8-foot wingspan model for a proposed commuter type STOL turboprop aircraft that could operate out of short fields. The SSTOL is a three-surface model aircraft with aggressive 40% chord fowler flaps on both canard and wing and a retractable landing gear with double bogies on all three gears. Fuel tanks are located in the fuselage and pumped up the vertical tails to the engines, and twelve servos were used.

In accordance with the Secretary of Defense's Transformation Planning Guidance, in October 2002 the Army submitted its Transformation Roadmap, which outlined the Army's Transformation strategy and detailed how Army Transformation supports sustained progress toward the attainment of the operational goals for Transformation stated in the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review. As directed by the TPG the Army presented its first annual update to the Army Transformation Roadmap in 2003. This document defined a Super-Short Takeoff and Landing (SSTOL) as an aircraft with the ability to carry two FCS platforms 3,500 miles. It can land on 750 feet of road or field in the joint area of operations, which avoids fixed airfields and adds innumerable points of entry. It also provides the Joint Commander with the ability to achieve operational surprise. This represented a considerable increase in the range requirement relative to the nominal Advanced Theater Transport (ATT) tactical mission, which was a 1,000 km radius, Hi-Low-Low-High profile with SSTOL landing and takeoff at mid-point with a 40 ton payload (e.g., two 20 ton FCS).

At least two past aircraft were similar in size and had similar ground roll performance capabilities. The NASA Quiet Short-haul Research Aircraft (QSRA) utilized Upper Surface Blowing (USB) flaps to achieve spectacular short field performance for a fixed-wing aircraft. The Canadair CL-84 Tilt-wing aircraft was similar to a tilt-rotor, except that instead of tilting the engine/rotor, the entire wing rotated. The QSRA and CL-84 were prototype/research aircraft and never entered production.


Population: 1 (R/C model only)

Specifications:
Wingspan: 8 ft.

Main source:
- WildRC.com
- GlobalSecurity.org