[R] LIFT FAN & SUPERCRITICAL WING GII
Back in the sixties and seventies there was much discussion on aircraft capable of rising vertically or operating from STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) ports; of cruising at sonic speeds and supersonic speeds. Grumman was active in many projects with an eye toward future civil products. NASA had plans and programs scheduled to investigate and establish the feasibility of VTOL/STOL systems, boundary layer control, high lift systems and advanced technology, such as supercritical aerodynamics.
Grumman Aerospace Corporation had been working with NASA in many areas promoting
the use of the Gulfstream II as a research tool to develop the flight research so necessary to practical product development. Proposals and studies were submitted for a V/STOL configuration of
the Gulfstream II using General Electric lift-fan engines. V/STOL aircraft research and operations analyses to be undertaken in the future was supposed to determine whether a viable short-haul
transportation system could be realized in the 1980's.
Another most interesting prospect was the area of supercritical aerodynamics. NASA's Dr. Whitcomb was busily engaged in
development of new aerodynamic technology that would permit efficient cruise-operation at near-sonic or sonic speeds. Grumman proposed the Gulfstream II as a research vehicle to help gather the
flight data so vital to confirm the engineering analyses and wind-tunnel data. The Gulfstream II configured with a supercritical wing and area-ruled for transonic flight was estimated to cruise
at Mach .97 (680 mph). Source: The Gulfstreamer, Vol.2, No.2, 1971.