The X-52 ROOK is a unique, hybrid-wing aircraft with similar flight capabilities as modern VTOL aircraft and serves as a personnel transport and versatile attack vehicle. The Rook is able to reach high speeds through two powerful jet engines located at the rear of the ship. Additionally, the Rook possesses linear aerospike engines across its tail which assist in low-speed maneuverability. It possesses two large, angle-adjustable rotors, one housed in each wing, which grants the aircraft its vertical take off and landing capabilities. The Rook also has adjustable wing tips that can be angled down to intensify the lift of the wing rotors and modify the movement of the ship depending on whether it is flying at high or low speeds. This gives the Rook unprecedented maneuverability as it can make full stops mid-air, hover in place, and make incredibly tight turns compared to conventional aircraft.
The Rook is armed with a GAU-17/A Gatling Gun mounted on the underside at the front of the jet. It is also outfitted with chaff and flare countermeasures launched from rear-facing pods.
As an experimental aircraft, the X-52 Rook was not mass-produced and only nine were manufactured prior to the Second American Civil War. The greatest challenge with the Rook's design is maintenance. Unlike most military and commercial aircraft engines, which are mounted on structures under the wings so as to be easy to remove for maintenance because removing two large pins detaches the entire engine. With the X-52, the tail-mounted engines are substantially more difficult to maintain and makes the aircraft require longer periods of downtime for maintenance. This tail mounted design also shifts the center of gravity backward, which by necessity was offset by a heavy nose, making piloting the X-52 Rook challenging for new pilots.
The X-52 Rook features a rear-accessed cargo hold with seats for twelve passengers and a cockpit for one pilot and one copilot.
Significance
Wolfhound captured the X-52 Rook from an air force base in New Mexico during the Second American Civil War. The Tlanuwa is the only X-52 Rook that survived the bombing of the air force base and is the only such aircraft of its kind in existence.
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Currently in the keeping of:
Wolfhound
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