XFV-1 Salmon, XFY-1 Pogo, Vertijet, Coléopthère, and other tail sitters

[Doc Yo]

 I've long thought a laser altimeter slaved to a fly-by-wire system would have addressed ( if not solved )
a lot of the landing problems, but I can see the rebound from the thrust during descent causing problems.

Maintenance crew probably would have hated both of them, to be sure.

" Yeah, Chief, the engine is
fifteen feet off the ground, and its standing on its *** besides. We usually hang the newest man on
a bungie cord from the prop and tell him check the torque on the mounting bolts...How do you break
'em in on the Enterprise?"

[ysi_maniac]

Another problem with all tail sitter proposals is ground access.

I would use a reclining ramp in order to perform maintenance and boarding in usual attitude.
We are wiffers: sometimes we look for solution for problems, and sometimes problems for solutions

[sandiego89]

As for working on the Pogo, yes it would have been a nightmare- especially the hydrauilics, but the designers had thought about this as well.  It had a purpose built trailer that could be towed by a jeep.  The trailer could pick the pogo up and transition it to the horizontal for transport.  For maintenance Convair had constructed a simple teepee of metal and plywood that kept the crew out of the weather.  It had ladders and work stands at the right levels and for cockpit access.  For rearming the weapons pods on the wingtips were actually close to the ground when the aircraft was on it's tail, so rearming may have been easier when it was sitting on the tail.