Rare RYAN XV-5A Vertifan VTOL - Flight Scenes

Here is some very rare test flight footage from the 1960's of the experimental V/STOL GE-Ryan XV-5A Vertifan which was built for the U.S. Army.

The Ryan XV-5 Vertifan was a jet powered V/STOL experimental aircraft in the 1960s. The U.S. Army commissioned the Ryan VZ-11RY (which was redesignated as the XV-5 in 1962). The XV-5A was finished in Army green, while the XV-5B was painted in white NASA colors. The XV-5 would be one of the last aircraft made by Ryan, which made mainly drones after the mid 1960s. Two 12,500 lb (maximum gross weight) XV-5A were evaluated in late 1966 by 15 test pilots (the "XV-5A Fan Club"). One was destroyed in a crash during a public flight demonstration on April 27, 1965, killing Ryan test pilot Lou Everett. Ads and tests proposed a rescue version which would winch a person into a compartment behind the pilots. The second plane was extensively damaged in 1966 during trials as a rescue aircraft when the dummy was ingested into a wing fan, fatally injuring the pilot, Bob Tittle, although it was judged that the fan actually still functioned well enough to continue controlled flight. The second plane was rebuilt as the modified XV-5B, with tests continuing until 1971. A XV-5B can be seen at the Fort Rucker Aviation Museum, Alabama.