The Flying Bedstead was a nickname given to two completely different experimental vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, both receiving the nickname because each comprised a skeletal platform raised on four legs that resembled a bedstead.
These aircraft were the Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig (TMR), and the later LLRV (Lunar Landing Research Vehicle) developed as part of the Apollo program. Both aircraft relied on jet lift (engine thrust directed downwards) rather than aerofoil surfaces, such as wings or rotors, as a means of providing lift.
Read more about Flying Bedstead: Rolls-Royce Thrust Measuring Rig (1953), Lunar Landing Research Vehicle (1960s)
Famous quotes containing the word flying:
“In song and dance man expresses himself as a member of a higher community: he has forgotten how to walk and speak and is on the way toward flying up into the air, dancing.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)