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The First VTOL Airplane was?

This is from Capt P.G. (Bill) Taylor's autobiography, "The Sky Beyond" :

He was trying to fly a DH-6 from Point Cook (Melbourne) to Sydney in 1919. The type was nicknamed the 'Clutching Hand' because of its wing section:

"It so happened that on the day of departure for Sydney there was a very strong northerly wind blowing. The aeroplane rose off the ground with a run of a few yards into this wind and proceeded to climb practically vertically over the aerodrome.

"The Clutching Hand reached one thousand feet and I began to get mentally adjusted on the course for Benalla, the first proposed refuelling stop. But, looking down, I found the aerodrome still there, and, watching the hangars near the shore of Port Philip Bay, I was somewhat shaken to find them moving the wrong way. The aeroplane, heading north, was moving south out over the wide waters of Port Philip. At full throttle we were still losing ground; so without further experiment I pushed the nose down to increase speed and just managed to connect up with the leeward edge of the aerodrome and put the aeroplane down. Thus ended the first attempt to make the flight to Sydney"

Taylor was a great aviation pioneer, sadly under-recognised in his native country.

MikeW
 
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