British V/STOL Rotorcraft Concepts in the 20th Century

Since the advent of the helicopter, aviation designers have struggled to develop a practical concept that could combine the vertical take-off, hover, and landing capabilities of the helicopter with the forward flight speed of a fixed-wing aircraft. As well as developing the well-known Harrier strike fighter, the United Kingdom's aircraft industry was also responsible for a numerous rotary-wing vertical/short take-off and landing (V/STOL) concepts. This paper catalogues the numerous V/STOL rotorcraft concepts proposed over the years, attempts to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the concepts, the reasons for their relative lack of success, and aims to draw out what was learned, as well as showing their relevance for future work in this field.