The Ryan Vertijet #543: H. Paul Culver Papers

Published November 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM MST

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Artist’s rendering of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet, April 11, 1957. Box 1, H. Paul Culver papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Photographs of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet and Ryan company staff preparing for Vertijet takeoff, April 11, 1957. Box 1, H. Paul Culver papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet flying horizontally, April 11, 1957. Box 1, H. Paul Culver papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photograph of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet climbing vertically, April 11, 1957. Box 1, H. Paul Culver papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

Photograph of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet flying horizontally, April 11, 1957. Box 1, H. Paul Culver papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Photographs of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet and Ryan company staff preparing for Vertijet takeoff, April 11, 1957. Box 1, H. Paul Culver papers, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

During the 1950s, the U.S. military speculated that it might be useful to have planes that could take off vertically. By launching vertically, the need for a runway could be eliminated.

It was this thinking that led to the development of the Ryan X-13 Vertijet. The Vertijet was a compact plane, powered by a Rolls-Royce turbojet engine. The aircraft had a wingspan of just 21 feet. It could zoom straight up, hover, fly horizontally and then land vertically again, all on a column of jet-hot gas. The Vertijet had the capability to land, tail down, in an area half the size of a tennis court.

The Ryan Aeronautical Company of San Diego manufactured the plane under commission by the Air Force. Ryan’s test pilot made the plane’s first complete vertical takeoff and landing flight at Edwards Air Force Base in 1957. It was a radically new principle of flight.

See the H. Paul Culver papers at UW’s American Heritage Center. for more information about the Ryan Vertijet.