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The Curtiss-Wright X-19, company designation Model 200, is an American experimental
tiltrotor aircraft A tiltrotor is an aircraft that generates lift and propulsion by way of one or more powered rotors (sometimes called ''proprotors'') mounted on rotating shafts or nacelles usually at the ends of a fixed wing. Almost all tiltrotors use a trans ...
of the early 1960s. It was noteworthy for being the last aircraft of any kind manufactured by Curtiss-Wright.


Design and development

In March 1960 the Curtiss-Wright Corporation developed the X-100, a
prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...
for a new, vertical takeoff transport aircraft. The X-100 had a single
turboshaft engine A turboshaft engine is a form of gas turbine that is optimized to produce shaft horsepower rather than jet thrust. In concept, turboshaft engines are very similar to turbojets, with additional turbine expansion to extract heat energy from the ...
, which propelled two tilting-propellers, while at the tail swivelling nozzles used the engine's exhaust gases to give additional control for hovering or slow flight. Although sometimes classified as a tiltrotor aircraft, the design differed from the Bell VTOL XV tiltrotor designs. The X-19 utilized specially designed radial lift propellers, rather than helicopter-like rotors, for vertical takeoff and augmenting the lift provided by the wing structures. From the X-100 Curtiss-Wright developed the larger X-200, of which the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
ordered two prototypes designated the X-19A. The X-19 had fore and aft high-mounted
tandem wing QAC Quickie Q2 A tandem wing is a wing configuration in which a flying craft or animal has two or more sets of wings set one behind another. All the wings contribute to lift. The tandem wing is distinct from the biplane in which the wings are ...
s. Each wing mounted two
propellers A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...
that could be rotated through 90 degrees, allowing the aircraft to take off and land like a
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
. The propellers were driven by twin Avco Lycoming T55-L-5 turboshaft engines mounted in the
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
.


Operational history

The first flight of the X-19 took place in November 1963 (other sources give 26 June 1964). It was intended that the X-19 would be developed into a VTOL transport aircraft. However the first X-19 was destroyed in a crash on 25 August 1965, with no loss of life, and the program was subsequently cancelled; the second prototype was never completed. The second X-19 prototype is currently being stored in the restoration facilities at the
National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is ...
in
Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
."Aircraft list."
''National Museum of the United States Air Force.'' Retrieved: 17 June 2012. The power transmission, power to weight requirements, flight mode transition and multi-axis control make VTOL aircraft design far more problematic than conventional fixed wing and even helicopter design. Like most pioneering tilt aircraft, the aerodynamic complexity of coupled pitch, roll, and yaw, and torque, particularly in transition from vertical takeoff to horizontal flight, made design of the X-19 extremely challenging. Ultimately, weaknesses in the power transmission gear boxes led to failure. Owing to design complexity, tiltrotor VTOL aircraft did not enter operational service until the
Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-use, tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionalit ...
introduction in 2007.


Specifications (X-19)


See also


References


External links


Curtiss-Wright X-19 Background
{{Authority control Tandem-wing aircraft Tiltrotor aircraft X-19, Curtiss-Wright X-19 Quadrotors Aircraft first flown in 1963 Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear Twin-engined four-prop tractor aircraft Turboshaft-powered aircraft