Ryan VZ-3 Vertiplane

The Ryan VZ‑3 Vertiplane was an experimental vertical‑take‑off and landing aircraft developed by Ryan Aeronautical in the early 1950s as part of the United States Army’s quest for a compact, utility rotorcraft. First flown on 2 May 1955, the Vertiplane was a lightweight, single‑seat machine that employed a unique ducted‑fan propulsion system combined with a conventional fixed‑wing layout. A pair of small lift fans mounted in the fuselage provided vertical thrust, while a rearward‑facing propeller supplied forward propulsion, allowing the aircraft to transition smoothly from hover to cruise. The airframe featured a high‑aspect‑ratio wing with pronounced dihedral, giving it stability in both flight modes, and a simplified control scheme that linked the lift fans to the stick for intuitive handling. Although only a few prototypes were built and the program was cancelled in 1957, the VZ‑3 demonstrated that a hybrid rotor‑plus‑fixed‑wing design could achieve short‑field performance without the complexity of a full helicopter. Its experimental data influenced later VTOL concepts such as the Bell X‑14 and laid groundwork for modern tilt‑duct and ducted‑fan drones, marking the Vertiplane as a pioneering step in vertical‑flight research.