Advances in Canadian Aviation
Canadas First V/STOL – The “Dynavert”
(Republished from the 29 January 1965 issue of The Voxair)
Canada’s new CL-84 tilt-wing vertical take-off aircraft was recently shown for the first time to U.S. and Canadian government and military officials. The prototype aircraft being developed by Canadair in a shared-cost program with the Canadian Department of Defence production.
The CL-84 is a versatile aerial support vehicle that has the capability to fill a variety of tactical roles in conditions of dispersed atomic warfare. These operational tasks include close support, utility and assault transport, surveillance, search and rescue, helicopter escort or destroyer and communications.
Performance flexibility of this order is made possible by the unusual “tilt-wing” design of the CL-84 which allows the aircraft to take off vertically and hover like a helicopter, yet fly forward like an airplane at speeds up to 350 m.p.h.
With the wing tilted midway between the vertical and horizontal, the CX-84 is able to perform low-speed loiter missions, and can also take advantage of small airstrips to make a short take-off run and generate enough lift to virtually double the normal payload.
The propeller/tilt-wing configuration of the CL-84 is the optimum choice for the operational versatility demanded of tactical aerial support vehicles that often have to meet rapidly-changing needs. The size of the aircraft was also determined by tactical requirements. As a result, the CL-84 fills a military need that has never before been met, because it can perform any “limited war” role at twice the speed of a helicopter and with a range capability similar to that of an airplane.
This ability to accelerate rapidly from zero speed to 350 m.p.h. is particularly important in order to avoid the type of damage from enemy action that has reportedly caused such heavy losses of helicopters.
The Canadair “tilt-wing” would also be invaluable as a transport and communications vehicle for national survival in a post-attack period when airfields and roads might be unusable. A commercial development of the CL-84 would have considerable potential as a passenger transport between city centres 100 to 500 miles apart.
Specifications
The Canadair CL-84 is a tilt-wing deflected – slipstream aircraft powered by two 1,400 s.h.p. Lycoming LTC 1K-4A (T53) turboshaft engines that give it a top speed of 350 m.p.h. Payload (I.S.A.; sea level) is 5,600 lb. for STOL and 3,100 lb. for VTOL.