Boeing's Phantom Swift

Interesting design.


http://youtu.be/8N3RlaVYDdM

Hmmmm.... very good (well, not actually - I don't see it operating outside in turbulence). Hardly new either - at the Bahrain Airshow in 2010, there was a UK company exhibiting something pretty similar.

Thanks however for sharing the video.

Interesting concept, but if you are a behemoth like Boeing with infinite resources going around trumpeting building a glorified R/C model in 27 days, it's embarrassing.


It doesn't seem to have an autopilot, it probably uses COTS components you can get at any store with no long lead, and if you know anything about ducted fan design, they made a VERY poor duct for theirs. It's a straight tube!


The closest thing to this to have ever flown, the DOAK VZ-4 (i think) had problems with pitch control in transition and duct lip stall at high alphas. Not insurmontable, but something pretty limiting in terms of flight envelope.
Now, if they show a fix to this problem afflicting tilt ducts, i'll be suitably impressed.


Anyway, i appreciate seeing the video, thanks for the link!

Artist's impression of Boeing Phantom Swift.

Source:
http://www.air-cosmos.com/upload/18/pics/2014/06/tablet/53aa8490e9e6c.jpg

Some related content in the DARPA VTOL X-Prize thread:
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,18534.msg204358.html#msg204358

Higher Res Boeing Phantom Swift 3D concept


A.

Ahem...VERY inaccurate, at least the way they make it sound.

Of the four companies vying for a shot at making the Phantom Swift X-Plane,Boeingwas the sole company capable of building and flying a scale model of the aircraft, the website reported.Boeingbestedcompanies

Aurora Flight Sciences, Karem and Sikorsky for the contract.

Click to expand...

True, Boeing was the only company that built a scale model, but not because they "were the only ones capable" of it. Have you seen the model? it's a glorified R/C model with no autopilot, and was purely a (very clever) PR stunt. Props to them for spending $10K in materials and two weeks worth of a couple of engineers to get the perception that they're getting something useful out of that model, which i assure you they're not. The other companies simply did not bother with what's essentially a gimmick.
Second, as far as I know Boeing is not the sole competitor going forward with the program. DARPA reserved the right to eliminate competitors at the end of Phase Ia, but they can take all of the four companies all the way to the end of Phase Ib, and possibly beyond if they can find the money.

Boeing is simply the only company to have announced that they were selected.

Anyway, thanks for the link. It's interesting to see how little the washington times journalists actually researched this.

...