Ryan XV-8

The V-8 designation was re-used by the U.S. armed forces to refer to the AV-8 Harrier. This was an unrelated project.{|class="infobox " style="float: right; clear: right; width: 315px; border-spacing: 2px; text-align: left; font-size: 90%;" ! colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: large; padding-bottom: 0.3em;" | XV-8 "Fleep" |-

| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: 90%; line-height: 1.5em;" |

|- |colspan="2" style="border-bottom: 1px solid #aaa;text-align:center;" |XV-8 'Fleep' flown in the Full Scale Tunnel at Langley, 1962 |-

! Role | Experimental STOL Aerial Utility Vehicle |-

! Manufacturer | Ryan Aeronautical Company |-

! First flight | 1961 |-

! Number built | 1 |- |}

The XV-8 Flexible Wing Aerial Utility Vehicle (nicknamed Fleep, short for "Flying Jeep") was an improved version of the Flex-Wing. Both aircraft were built by Ryan Aeronautical Company in collaboration with NASA for the United States Air Force and the United States Army and tested in 1961 as a STOL patrol, reconnaissance and light utility aircraft to transport people or freight when a more specialized aircraft is not required or available.

Design and development

The Fleep began as the Flex-Wing. The Flex-Wing had four-wheel landing gear, a smaller nose section behind which the pilot sat, and a single vertical tail/rudder, whereas the Fleep had tricycle landing gear, a larger nose section and a V tail/rudder. The wing was a fabric delta-shaped Rogallo wing with a fold-able frame; the wing was attached to a pod-like cockpit on a four-wheeled cargo platform. It was tested with two tail configurations — vertical fin and V-tail. The aircraft wing could be folded into a relatively small package for transport.

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: One pilot
• Length: 10 ft 6 in (5.94 m)
• Wingspan: 33 ft 5 in (10.18 m)
• Powerplant: 1 × Continental IO-360-A, 210 hp (157 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 65 mph (105 km/h)
• Range: 120 miles (193 km)

See also

{{aircontent

• NASA Paresev

|see also=

• Francis Rogallo's airfoil
• John W. Dickenson
• History of hang gliding
• Ultralight trike aircraft

}}

References

• FLEXIBLE WINGS AT WORK

External links

• Popular Mechanics article about flying the Flex-Wing, written in 1961 by Ryan test pilot Lou Everett
• A Ryan engineer memoir on the Fleep