Roton ATV

Rotary Rocket

On July 28, 1999, a test vehicle for the projected Roton rocket, called the Atmospheric Test Vehicle, took to the sky powered by the salvaged, rocket-tipped blades of a Sikorsky S-58 rotor.

The rocket, conceived by the Rotary Rocket Company, was a single stage to orbit concept, which at one point would helicopter up, firing its rocket engines at altitude, and at another point would rocket up and helicopter down.

Build by Scaled Composites, the Roton ATV would fly two more times after which funding for the project fell trough.