List of rocket planes

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rocket planes or rocket aircraft can be subdivided by the few rocket powered aircraft to have existed. Some early attempts at flights used engines that might be considered the first 'rocket' powered aircraft. By the time rocket engines were more refined, jet engines had taken over much the roles they might have filled with aircraft. Since most rocket powered planes have limited fuel capacity they also tend to have to function as gliders. The many experimental rocket aircraft have contributed a great deal to aviation. Rocket powered aircraft have a reasonbly bright future in the form of space planes such as those made for the ANSARI X PRIZE. In high-speed ultra fast flight they are experiencing some competition from ramjets however, and in human spaceflight they will always have competition from capsule designs.

The majority of rocket planes that have been built have been for experimental use, as interceptor fighters, and space plane.

Not all rocket planes are of the conventional takeoff like "normal" aircraft. Some types have been air-launched from another plane, while other types have taken off vertically - nose in the air and tail to the ground ("tail-sitters"). It is also possible, that rocket planes launch vertically without changing their orientation.

This is an incomplete listing, loosely chronological sorted by type used for launch (please correct, if necessary), of some aircraft that used rocket propulsion:

1 Rocket planes with conventional take off
2 Air launched rocket planes
3 Rocket planes taking off vertically
4 Mixed power rocket planes
5 See also

[edit] Rocket planes with conventional take off

EZ-Rocket Customized Rutan Long-EZ, experimental model.
Lippisch Ente
Opel RAK.1
DFS 194 rocket powered glider test plane
Me 163 rocket powered fighter (extensive use in World War 2)
Me 263 also known as Ju 248, a development of Me163
DFS 228 rocket powered reconnaissance plane
Mitsubishi J8M
Bell X-1 (US) - First plane to break the sound barrier in controlled, level flight.
Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270 (some test flights but did not enter operation service)
DFS 228 (never flew under power)
DFS 346 approached supersonic speeds
Bisnovat 5 Russian design based from earlier captured DFS 346, cancelled (never flew under power)

[edit] Air launched rocket planes

Ohka (Japan) air-launched kamikaze aircraft
Bell X-2 (US)
Douglas D-588-II Skyrocket (US)
X-15 (US) - conducted numerous supersonic and hypersonic flights
SpaceShipOne First civilian-funded and built aircraft to reach Mach 3, first civilian-funded and built spacecraft to fly above 100 km altitude, first reusable civilian-funded and built spacecraft.

[edit] Rocket planes taking off vertically

A4b winged version of V-2 rocket (Ger) - unmanned
Bachem Ba 349 'Natter' (GER) - manned surface-to-air missile
Venture Star, X-33
X-20 Dyna-Soar (project cancelled before first flight)
Space Shuttle (US)
Shuttle Buran (USSR) (1-orbital flight)

[edit] Mixed power rocket planes

All conventional take off designs.

XF-91 Thunderceptor (US)- mixed power
Saunders-Roe SR.53 (UK) - mixed power rocket and jet engines.
Saunders-Roe SR.177 (UK) - development of SR.53, project cancelled before first flight