[mapt]

We have created sufficient variety of failed VTOL plane concepts that there are certainly a number of types you've never seen. It is a recurrent trend - every engineering team thinks they have an answer which puts a novel spin on things and will fix them once and for all - and then it turns to shit.

View the 'wheel of shame', as it's known in aeronautical engineering circles:

http://vstol.org/

[VladRussian2]

several years ago spent a bunch of time going through the wheel, and in my view XV-5A and Bell X-22 were pretty good planes - there was nothing really wrong with them, and definitely not a "shame". Given the half-century improvements in hardware/electronics/aeronautical science i think if built today they would be much better than F-35 and V-22.