Unique Aircraft: The duPont DP-2, a Futuristic VTOL Boondoggle

Resembling a composite, modernized version of the 1950s-era Bell X-14, the duPont Aerospace DP-2 failed to deliver on lofty promises.

Jason McDowell

Tuesday, September 27, 2022 at 11:28 AM ET

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Resembling a composite, modernized version of the 1950s-era Bell X-14, the duPont Aerospace DP-1, the prototype for the DP-2 concept, is now displayed at the Classic Rotors Museum in Ramona, California. [Credit: Jason McDowell]

Key Takeaways:

The duPont Aerospace DP-1 was an experimental 53-percent-scale VTOL jet demonstrator, developed in the early 2000s from a 1980s concept (DP-2) aimed at military transport and civilian airliner roles.
Despite the initial DP-2 concept being rejected by multiple U.S. military branches and DARPA due to technical faults, duPont proceeded with building the DP-1 prototype.
The DP-1 featured a novel and comparatively simple control system using composite vanes in its belly to vector engine exhaust for vertical lift and control, aiming to avoid complex bleed-air systems.
The project achieved autonomous, tethered hover testing successfully, but was ultimately defunded by Congress in 2007 after spending over $63 million, preventing it from ever achieving untethered or forward flight.

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Since the dawn of the jet age, the aviation industry has pursued the holy grail of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability—an aircraft that can take off and land vertically, but also cruise at jet speeds. A few fighter/attack aircraft like the Harrier, Yak-38, and F-35B—as well as a number of similar experimental jets—have successfully achieved the goal. In the 1960s, Dornier even built two experimental VTOL cargo jets that successfully flew.

Beyond heavily-funded government/military programs, however, VTOL jets have eluded civil aviation. But as demonstrated by the duPont Aerospace DP-1, it hasn’t been for a lack of trying.