Every now and then a new aircraft design comes along that just makes you shake your head, wondering where to start. The Oliver Hexplane is one of those designs.
It is a new take on what Bell and Boeing accomplished with the V-22 Osprey, an attempt at one of aviation’s great grails: a machine that takes off like a helicopter and flies like an airplane. Such machines combine excellent takeoff and landing capabilities with superior cruising and hauling capacity.
The guys at Oliver VTOL want to take the idea to the next level with plans for Hexplane, which combines the fuselage of a Boeing 737 with the engines of an Osprey.
Make that six engines.
There are several good ideas here, but then it’s easy to have good ideas on paper. Building and flying them is another matter entirely.
The company believes giving the Hexplane six engines will give it greater speed and range than current vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Company founder Richard Oliver says the redundancy of six independent engines and propellers provides a safety net as well.
“The Hexplane goes further by providing the ability to perform a safe maximum gross weight vertical landing at its hover out of ground effect limit altitude with a failed propeller, gearbox or engine,” he said in a statement.
Helicopters and other VTOL aircraft have a maximum altitude at which they can hover without the aerodynamic benefit of being near the ground. It is lower than the altitude at which they can hover in ground effect, which happens within a few tens of feet of the ground or closer.
Oliver says the Hexplane also could relieve congestion at major airports thanks to its ability to take off and land without a big runway. The company is also pursuing military versions of the concept.
Of course there are the details of actually building and flying one, not to mention backing up the specs Oliver VTOL claims. The V-22 Osprey had a rather difficult development history, to state it mildly. Oliver believes his design will overcome many of these issues, but it remains to be seen how an aircraft burning three times as much fuel as the Osprey will achieve some of the performance figures announced.
The company says the leviathan “could fly above 30,000 feet at cruise speeds of 425 mph with ranges exceeding 1,500 miles.” Curiously, these performance figures aren’t too far off the original Boeing 737-100. Interesting, too, that the Hexplane rendering features a Boeing-ish paint scheme as well for its 737 fuselage based design. We’re not sure how much fuel the Hexplane would have to carry to achieve those numbers, but it’s likely to be a lot. Hopefully it will be able to carry a few passengers as well.
The company also has a smaller version of the Hexplane on its website. Details are limited, but it appears to use conventional turboprop engines. There are no specifications other than to say the Hexplane will fly faster, further and more safely than competitive VTOL aircraft.
While there is a long, long list of various ideas attempting the same thing, we’re not sure which competitive VTOL aircraft the company is talking about. Though the AgustaWestland AW609 tilt rotor (formerly Bell Agusta) is still out there. AgustaWestland says it hopes to achieve certification with the Osprey’s civilian little brother in 2015 or 2016.
We’d love to see the Oliver Hexplane transition from paper to prototype and lead the way for a new wave of VTOL aircraft. But we’re not holding our breath.
Image: Oliver VTOL
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