Both aircraft were built by Ryan Aeronautical Company in collaboration with NASA for the United States Air Force and the United States Army and tested in 1961 as a STOL patrol, reconnaissance, and light utility aircraft to transport people or freight when a more specialized aircraft is not required or available.

The Ryan XV-5 Vertifan was a jet-powered V/STOL experimental aircraft in the 1960s. The United States Army (US Army) commissioned the Ryan VZ-11-RY (re-designated XV-5A in 1962) in 1961, along with the Lockheed VZ-10 Hummingbird (re-designated XV-4 in 1962).

In the 1950s, Ryan was a pioneer in jet vertical flight with the X-13 Vertijet, a tail-sitting jet with a delta wing which was not used in production designs. In the early 1960s, Ryan built the XV-5 Vertifan for the U.S. Army, which used wing- and nose-mounted lift vanes for V/STOL vertical flight. Other Ryan V/STOL designs included the VZ-3 ...

Oct 22, 2020 · The XV-8 performed well enough in testing that the United States Army considered a production run, according to a 1965 report. The Fleep could be flown easily by an average pilot with either fixed-wing or rotary-wing experience.

Dec 28, 2016 · The updated project Ryan XV-8 Fleep proposed to use a change in the angle of attack of the wing only during takeoff and landing. During the horizontal flight, the wing should have been fixed in the appropriate position, after which …

Mar 30, 2012 · The XV-8A aircraft (designated FLEEP) resulted from Ryan Aeronautical Company design studies of the application of the Rogallo flexible-wing concept to a manned aircraft.

Mar 30, 2012 · The U.S. Army Flexible Wing Aerial Utility Aircraft was designed to carry out the functions of a light utility aircraft. The vehicle is essentially a self-propelled flying cargo platform supported...

The wing designed for the Fleep and also the wing designed by Charles Richards formed foundations for Mike Burns Skiplane. The same two-lobe four-beamed wing later was found embedded in standard Rogallos.

Sep 23, 2009 · Full scale of XV-8A Fleep prototype, a flexible wing aircraft built by Ryan, was flown in the Full Scale Tunnel. Photograph published in Sixty Years of Aeronautical Research 1917-1977, by David A. Anderton - NASA publication (page 60).

Dec 10, 2018 · Interesting fact: despite the Fleep successfully flying and undergoing a test program, the "V-8" designation was later re-used, something that usually only happens when a program is cancelled at the paper, not-really-officially-designated stage.