Pete Bartoe designed and built the one-of-a-kind JetWing in the mid-1970s. The first test flights were in 1977, and it retired in 1978. The tiny jet flew again briefly in the early 1980s, and came to Wings Over the Rockies in 2007.
This small, single-seat research aircraft explored the technology of increasing lift at low speeds by blowing the exhaust of the turbofan engine over the upper surfaces of the wings.
Airplanes get lift from airflow over and under their wings. Below a certain airspeed, there’s not enough airflow to support the airplane, but lift can be increased by blowing air over the wings.
Being able to fly safely at a low airspeed enables airplanes to take off and land in shorter distances and on rougher surfaces. Many valuable technologies have been developed to allow airplanes to have a high top speed and relatively low landing speed. These include flaps, slats, slots, leading edge devices, speed brakes, and variable-geometry swing-wings.
Engineers had experimented with blowing jet engine airflow over airplane wings or flaps since the 1940s and 50s, but Bartoe’s design differed by directing all of the engine’s output to the wings. This resulted in an aircraft with an astonishing speed range, from a minimum of 40 mph to a maximum of about 400 mph! Its top speed was ten times its minimum speed! (Even today, most jets—airliners, fighters, transports, and bombers—take off and land at airspeeds between 150 and 200 mph.)
Aircraft specifications:
Wingspan: 21 ft 9 in (6.63 m)
Length: 29 ft (8.84 m)
Maximum weight: 3,336 lbs (1,513 kg)
Engine: Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-1 turbofan
Thrust: 2,200 lbs (9.8 kN)
Air & Space Museum
