A Technology Challenge Available to Purchase

THE title of this report comes from the Keynote Address to the recent International Powered Lift Conference organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society. Attention at this gathering was focussed entirely on short take‐off and vertical landing (STOVL) technologiesf for fast jet combat aircraft. The strong international collaboration particularly between the USA and the UK has been a main feature of the evolution of these types. Seven areas of work have been outlined at the last conference of this nature and these largely remain the central themes. These are: plenum chamber burning; hot gas reingestion during VTOL manoevres; ground erosion; near field jet noise; powerplant controls; aircraft controls and flight/ powerplant controls integration; and airframes. It has been concluded that the most promising configuration for a future aircraft would include the two specific features of remote vertical lift in jet‐borne flight and conventional mixed flow propulsion for wing‐borne flight.