Hiller X-18 Tilt-Wing VTOL (1959)

Scale: 1/70
Initial Release: 1965
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity - Comet Version - 4
Kit Rarity - Aurora Version - 4

About the Design

Perhaps since the dawn of powered flight itself, aircraft designers have been trying to develop a vehicle with the vertical take-off-and-landing capabilities of a helicopter with the speed and endurance characteristics of a fixed-wing airplane. In the late 1950s, Hiller Aircraft, under contract with the US Navy, attempted to build a viable tilt-wing aircraft by taking the chassis of a Chase YC-122C transport and fixing two engines from the XFY-1 "Pogo" program to a wing capable of moving from zero to 90 degrees.  Testing of the Hiller X-18 began in 1959 and ended after 20 testbed flights when the prototype was severely damaged.

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About the Kit

First produced by Comet Models, this Hiller X-18 model was later re-released by Aurora.  In both versions, the tilt-wings actually tilted and a gimbaled display stand was included.

This copy is the original Comet version of the model.