aircraft reverse?

Question

Is there any aircraft which can travel both in forward and reverse direction while flying?
If not, is there any specific scientific / safety reason for not designing aircrafts with that capability of flying reverse?

regards
Suriya

Answer 1

My first plane could do this. A piper J-3 Cub. I could fly it backward with a good 20 KT head wind. This is of course in reference to the ground.

Yes but it is a model.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOoFGLhF_d0

No full-size fixed wing plane "flies" backward because:
- The normal airfoils work in reverse if you make the airstream go backward (it is sucked to the ground).
- Even if you designed a wing that was perfectly symmetrical and used Angle Of Attack alone to make lift the control surfaces would also have to be modified to be fully articulated. And if you did all of that you would never be able to "transition" without going into a dive or something.

Just not practical or needed for anything. Just like a helicopter that could fly upside-down. You could possibly design one to do this but why would you want to and would the pilot survive the transition.

Dan is right though. If you want to fly forward, backward, sideways, etc. just buy a helo.

Answer 2

Only a helo can fly in reverse. At least one Russian fighter can "flip" onto the cans and reverse its direction inflight much like a sliding 180 in a car. And the Harrier "Jump Jet" can take off vertically and hover and drift backawards but it really doesn't fly backwards in the conventional sense. But no conventional aircraft can actually fly backwards.

It wouldn't be practical to try to design one to do so. First off, what's to be gained by doing it? Secondly it wouldn't be feasible from an engineering standpoint as it would be necessary to come to a full stop first before reversing direction. Well before the aircraft came to a stop it would stall and fall out of the sky. The cost of any thruster system that could allow the aircraft to come to a stop would be high and would introduce an unnecessary level of complexity into the aircraft design with little gain by doing so.

A few aircraft are cleared to taxi in reverse using the thrust reversers or reverse pitch on a turboprop. I've been on a number of commercial flights that did exactly that.

Answer 3

Yes they can. Helicopters do it all the time. A fixed wing can also fly in a "reverse" direction. If your relative wind speed exceeds your ground speed you will be going in reverse. The relative wind is the wind flowing over your airfoil (wings.) Straight and level, you can trim the aircraft for what is called "slow flight." That is the slowest you can fly with out stalling the aircraft. In a Cessna 152 that's about 40mph/35kts. If you are trimmed for 35kts and you have a 65kt headwind you are "flying" in reverse at 30kts ground speed.
If you look out the window at the ground you will notice you are going backwards.
So technically, yes, an airplane can fly in reverse.

Answer 4

No airplane can "fly" in reverse... the wings have the opposite effect when they are used in reverse... thats bad... and the engines on most airplanes cannot be used in reverse during flight... Even if they could... the amount of thrust produced by reverse thrust is not enough to keep an airplane airborne... Finally, there are no rear-view mirrors in airplanes and you dont want to fly into something you cannot see...

Answer 5

Since you sad aircraft and not airplane, the answer is yes. A helicopter for one

Answer 6

they almost all can but for safety reasons they don't. a plane was once reversing and a stone or something went into the engine and it blew up, killing everyone on board. so, thats why!
Cx

Answer 7

Nothing can travel in two direction at the same time..But any aicraft can reverse it's direction.

Answer 8

a helicopter can