This Plane Almost Reinvented Travel: What Went Wrong?

Hi all - as some viewers are pointing out, it's a mistake to describe a 133 dB to 96 dB reduction as 15%. It's much more than that, as decibels are a logarithmic unit. Sorry for letting that error slip in and any confusion (note that 96dB is still incredibly loud).

Why does the British government need to destroy all useful engineering documents of cancelled projects damnit!

"...and it all went to s$%t" That took me completely off guard.

TIP JETS? That is insane technology!

I remember, when I was a boy, the sound of the Rotodyne. There was nothing like it. When you saw it flying over you felt like you were seeing the future. And perhaps it could have been, but it was too much ahead of its time.

It should be illegal to destroy research. Maybe shoehorn it into protections on financial records?

5:08 Gotta love the test pilot gear back in the day: Suit and hat.

I genuinely hate how this aircraft didn't succeed, it should really be reconsidered.

It almost physically hurts to see this beautiful thing to to waste. Couldn't they just resurrect the project and use today's advancements and technologies to fix the 60 year old issues?

6:54 Small correction - since sound is on a logarithmic scale, the reduction in noise wasn't by 15%, but rather by 86%

This seems like a technology that should be revisited.

This NEEDS to make a comeback

I sometimes wonder how big of a role does "Corporate Sabotage" play in the failures of these amazing technologies. For example, a technology like this would've significantly hurt the "Airport Taxi" industry.

I've never even heard of the Rotodyne. Man I love this channel.

I feel like out of all the failed projects this one is the only one im like damn thatd be cool as hell and i genuinly think it would work

When I was a kid, I put together a plastic model kit of a Fairey Rotodyne, with a detailed interior including seats, passengers, even luggage racks. I really thought it was the wave of the future. Technologically, it could have been, given a sufficient commitment.

I feel like this concept should be revisited to replace medical helicopters. You could deliver patients faster while burning less fuel. A lot of development has gone into miniature, quiet and efficient jet engines that could go on the blades. The larger cab size could also allow for more than one patient to travel at a time with ambulance like medical equipment and staff there for them.

I remember the Rotodyne flying over our house! The Rotodyne was based at a small airfield called White Waltham just outside Maidenhead and as a child we lived on the direct line between White Waltham and Farnborough which was the base of the British Aircraft Establishment. On several occasions we heard the distinct sound of the Rotodyne flying over and dashed outside to watch it go over. Yes, it was noisy, but so were most aircraft at that time, especially the big jets like the Boeing 707. The difference was the big jets landed at airports outside the city centres so did not fly low over the houses, except of course the ones on the flight path into the airports. People these days forget how noisy those old aircraft were! A few years ago I heard a racket and went outside to see what it was and was treated to the sight of a Dreamliner on its way to the Farnborough Airshow escorted by a Spitfire and a Hurricane. I could barely hear the Dreamliner - the racket was all being made by the Merlins. A beautiful racket though!

Missed a perfect opportunity to title it “Why the VTOL Airliner never Took Off”

For places like small islands or isolated cities (like those Spanish cities on the Morroccan coast that actually still have helicopter airlines), this sort of thing could be a really amazing addition to their transportation sector.