From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
DuPont Aerospace DP-1
was a subscale prototype for a
fixed-wing
VSTOL
transport aircraft, intended to take off and land like a
helicopter
and fly like an
airplane
. The fullscale aircraft, named
DP-2
, was designed to travel at high subsonic speeds with a greater range than its
rotary-wing
equivalent, and to allow troops to rappel from the aft cargo ramp. The development of the 53% scale DP-1 aircraft was originally funded in the early 1990s as a backup to the
V-22 Osprey
program, which was undergoing significant technical and political challenges.
[1]
During the construction of the test aircraft, program management changed the requirements, and mandated that the vehicle be tested as a UAV. This change added significant cost and time to the project, but in September 2007, the DP-1 autonomous prototype achieved sustained, controlled tethered hovers of 45 seconds at the Gillespie Field test site.
[2]
On June 13, 2007, the
U.S. House Committee on Science and Technology
held a hearing about the fate of the DP-2.
[3]
In August 2007, funding was finally cut, after a total of $63 million spent over nearly two decades.
[2]
References
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