HOW TO TAKE OFF VERTICALLY

These aircraft have ditched the runway and can shoot straight up into the sky

- SCOTT DUTFIELD

Among the myriad aircraft in the world, there are two main ways to get airborne. There are conventional aeroplanes that combine ground acceleration, a runaway and fixed wings to generate lift and propel them into the air; then there’s the aircraft that get straight to the point and rise from the ground vertically. These are known as vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircaft.

The idea of VTOL isn’t a novel one; it’s not even one that has been dreamt up in the last 100 years. During the 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci, designed a corkscrew-like aircraft that would, in theory, lift straight off the ground. Known as the ‘aerial screw’ Da Vinci’s design used a linen spiral wound around a wooden shaft and spring, driven by four men, to supposedly generate enough lift to get it off the ground. Da Vinci never constructed a model of his spiral helicopter, but scientists are pretty sure that while he was on the right lines, its execution would likely fail. This was mainly because the screw would be too heavy to generate enough thrust to get it airborne.

THE FIRST TAKE OFF