First free hover flight of the McDonnell XL-25/XH-35/XV-1 Convertiplane

Description

The McDonnell XV-1 was an early compound helicopter (compounded with thrust and lift). A tethered hover flight had taken place earlier on Feb 11 1954.

 Note: See Discussion forum topic on this milestone.

The aircraft became the first compound helicopter to exceed 200 mph in level fight. A very thorough review of the development of the XV-1 can be found in,

"An Overview of Autogyros and The McDonnell XV-1 Convertiplane", Franklin D. Harris, NASA/CR-2003-212799, October 2003

Source: AHS Calendar July 2013