The United States tried to make a flying Jeep

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, 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, 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. The Fleep could be flown easily by an average pilot with either fixed-wing or rotary-wing experience. According to AeroFiles.com, 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.

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, 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 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.

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.