§ Mr. Stewardasked the Minister of Supply whether he will make a statement on the development of the jet aircraft designed to rise vertically from the ground on take-off; and whether he will consult with the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation as to the effect its production in quantity will have on future airport requirements in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Selwyn LloydBoth here and in the United States a great deal of attention is being paid to the development of techniques for the vertical or near vertical take-oil of winged aircraft. In Britain we are concentrating on techniques designed to enable the aircraft to take-off vertically from a normal horizontal rather than from a vertical position.
In particular, the device known as the "flying bedstead" has been built by Rolls Royce under a Ministry of Supply contract as a research machine to examine the basic control problems of this form of vertical take-off. The machine—it can hardly be called an aircraft for it is little more than two aeroengines with the pilot mounted on top—took off for the first time on 3rd August in free flight and remained airborne for 10 minutes, hovering over the ground under the pilot's control. During subsequent flights it has flown at heights of up to 25 feet.
Though the machine offers much promise, a great deal of investigation, development and testing will be needed before the principles could be applied to the design of a useful aircraft either for military or civil purposes. Production in quantity of such aircraft must, therefore, be a long way off and cannot, for many years to come, affect airport requirements. I shall of course, keep closely in touch with my right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation.