Look at this!

[Nico Braas]

What is it? Is it a Hercules or a Chinook?
Tomorrow the answer and NO, it is NOT an invention of myself!
Illustration is an official press release of a big aircraft company!

[No.1]

No match from my side.... fuselage is from Hercules but no idea what this can be

[Profa]

Obviously either Boeing or Lockheed had some, let's say "interesting" (), ideas...

[Nico Braas]

Photo is an official news release from the Lockheed-California Newsbureau and shows what they call a HYBRID 'HELI-PLANE' cargo carrier. Plan was introduced by Dr. Phillip Carlson, research-director-aircraft of the Lockheed-California-Company. It would be able to take off and land helicopter-style using small and unpaved sites. In forward flight the two-bladed rotor would be stopped in minimum drag position and the load carried by the vehicle's fixed wing. It would be cheaper to operate than a convential helicopter because cruise efficiency would approach that of a fixed wing airplane. Gross weight would be 70,000 lbs. It could carry a 25,000 lbs payload at a cruise speed of 150 knots. Range would be 800 miles.
This very peculiar combination of Chinook and Hercules never progressed beyound the project stage.
Lockheed had similar plans for a future 'heliplane' that could stop rotor after vertical take off and stow the blades into the fuselage. Artist impression shows a project for 20 passengers.
Also this never materialized!

[No.1]

Interesting project with X wings But 20 passengers look like a small number or they was 20 soldiers with full combat equipment?

[Nico Braas]

X-wing project (from Sikorsky) is from a much later date: nineties! These Lockheed projects had no provision for rotor to produce lift after rotation was stopped. As you see rotors were supposed to be placed in minimum drag position (or even retracted) and NOT in a maximum lift position!
Photo caption of stowed rotor project was very specific with number of passengers (20) but with the remark that larger version could carry up to 100 passengers. With these projects introduced after cancelation of the Fairey Rotodyne it seems Rotodyne had basically all the things -and more- as offered by the Lockheed projects!!

[No.1]

Thank you

[Mark Nankivil]

Greetings All -

The design Nico started this thread with has many of the elements of a NASA Large Civil Tandem Compound design minus the pusher props.  Much of that NASA effort also applies to the USAF/USMC Very Heavy Lift (VHL) Program which is meant to provide C-130 cargo size (or nearly so) vertical lift ability.  The attached image is out of the following document:

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20080047712_2008046458.pdf

Enjoy the Day! Mark