The Real Life X-Wing Fighters: Sukhoi Shkval, Sikorsky X-Wing, & BAe Kingston P.1214

In this video, we talk about three different X-Wing aircraft. We talk first about some of my interest in Star Wars, my love for General Grevious, and the real world practicality of the X-Wing fighter, before then going into the first design from the Soviet Union: the Sukhoi Shkval, a four-wing tail sitter that strongly resembles the X-Wing seen in Star Wars. We talk about the strong interest in tail sitters from the 1950's to the 1970's, their potential benefits on aircraft carriers and the like, where they fell short, and how the Shkval attempted to remedy at least one of those shortcomings. We then look at the Sikorsky X-Wing, a government and DARPA-funded helicopter rotor/wing concept that became intertwined with the Sikorsky S-72, a testbed helicopter.

We then look at the final design, the British Aerospace Kingston P.1214, an experimental VTOL "tailless" forward and rear-swept wing fighter design. We look at earlier British attempts at making VTOL aircraft with the Hawker Siddeley Harrier and how the P.1214 came about from attempted improvements to the Harrier. We also look at why all three of these designs ended up failing, with only the Sikorsky X-Wing even making it to the prototype stage.