Originally Posted by
jlemon
Here's a quiz item for our good friends across the pond....
Name a hybrid aircraft that could takeoff and land like a helicopter but could also cruise like a turboprop (hint: this aircraft, which was designed for passenger service, was built and demonstrated in the U.K. many years before the Bell-Boeing V-22 "Osprey" was ever conceived)....
[And just a little supplementary - which US airliner had the same engines as this remarkable aircraft, and which mainstream US airline (mentioned above a few days ago) operated it.]
"friends across the pond" -- I'm across Lake Pontchartrain -- does that count?
Anyway, the hybrid was the Fairey Rotodyne, with tip-jets on the main rotor for VTOL, and two Napier-Eland turboprops for level flight. These turboprops were incorporated into Convair 540's for Allegheny, but didn't last long as I understand.