---
title: "The United States tried to make a flying Jeep"
date: "2019-09-12"
modified: "2020-10-22"
authors:
  - name: "Harold C. Hutchison"
    link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/haroldhutchison/"
url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/united-states-wanted-flying-jeeps/"
categories:
  - "Army"
  - "History"
  - "Tactical"
  - "Vehicles"
---

# The United States tried to make a flying Jeep

![](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/18214791/origin.jpg>)

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Army was testing out a number of ideas to help support troops. Some of these ideas, like the [XV-5 Vertifan](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/the-army-tested-its-own-jump-jet-in-the-1960s/>), were decades ahead of their time. Others, though, fell by the wayside as alternate technologies emerged and proved better able to do the job. One of these forgotten experiments was something called the XV-8 Fleep.

At the time, the Army looking for a new way to resupply troops. The Army was also in the [middle of restructuring their forces](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/how-the-army-designed-divisions-to-fight-a-nuclear-war/>), further dispersing units to better mitigate the effects of a potential nuclear attack. They needed a new, fast way to get materiel from one unit to the next. Something small, nimble, and durable — like a Jeep, which was already a military icon.

"Fleep," as you've probably noticed by now, is a portmanteau of 'flying' and 'Jeep.' That's right. The idea sounds silly to us now, but at the time, it made complete sense to the Ryan Aeronautic Company.

---

The XV-8 performed well enough in testing that the United States Army considered a production run, according to [a 1965 report](<https://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/460405.pdf>). The Fleep could be flown easily by an average pilot with either fixed-wing or rotary-wing experience. [According to AeroFiles.com](<https://www.aerofiles.com/_ryan.html>), it had a top speed of 67 miles per hour and a range of 120 miles. The Army concluded it could haul roughly 1,000 pounds of cargo.

![](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/18214797/origin.png>)

The XV-8 was to be a versatile platform, fulfilling a number of missions for the Army.

(Jeff Quitney)

By comparison, the top speed of the [UH-1D Huey](<https://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=42>), which was quickly becoming a workhorse in the Vietnam War in 1965, was 137 miles per hour and it had a range of 317 miles. The [UH-1D](<https://olive-drab.com/idphoto/id_photos_uh1.php>) could carry up to 3,116 pounds of cargo.

The numbers here tell a grim tale for the Fleep — the Huey significantly outperformed the Fleep in every comparable metric.

![](<https://www.wearethemighty.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/assets.rbl.ms/18214800/origin.png>)

The Fleep wasn't a bad plane, but the UH-1 simply blew it away in terms of performance.

(Jeff Quitney)

That's, ultimately, was why the XV-8 failed to make the cut. Helicopter technology had improved so much in such a short time that, by the time the Fleep saw the light of day, it didn't stand a chance.

Thankfully, there's some footage left behind as a relic of this aeronautical oddity. Watch the Fleep take to the skies in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQjbrd1suvY

[www.youtube.com](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQjbrd1suvY>)

## Author
WATM contributor Harold Hutchison was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national web sites.