{"id":5909146,"date":"2026-07-17T11:49:27","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=5909146"},"modified":"2026-07-17T11:49:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T09:49:27","slug":"curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/","title":{"rendered":"The Army\u2019s Flying Jeep"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style><p>In the late 1950s the US Army went looking for a machine that no one had ever quite built: something between a jeep and a helicopter. A flying jeep \u2014 a simple platform a soldier could stand on, lift straight up, and buzz over a battlefield. It sounds like a cartoon. The Army was completely serious, and Curtiss-Wright built them one that actually flew.<\/p><p>They called it the VZ-7. It was, essentially, a manned quadcopter \u2014 decades before the word existed.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;padding:20px;border-radius:8px;margin:24px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;font-size:15px;letter-spacing:.03em;color:#111\">INFORMAZIONI RAPIDE<\/p><table style=\"border-collapse:collapse;font-size:15px;line-height:1.5\"><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 12px 6px 0;font-weight:600;color:#333;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Role<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#444\">VTOL \"flying jeep\" (utility platform)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 12px 6px 0;font-weight:600;color:#333;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Operatore<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#444\">U.S. Army<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 12px 6px 0;font-weight:600;color:#333;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">centrale elettrica<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#444\">1 \u00d7 Turbomeca Artouste IIB turboshaft, 425 shp<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 12px 6px 0;font-weight:600;color:#333;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Rotors<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#444\">Four vertically-mounted propellers<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 12px 6px 0;font-weight:600;color:#333;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Velocit\u00e0 massima<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#444\">~32 mph (51 km\/h); ceiling ~200 ft<\/td><\/tr><tr><td style=\"padding:6px 12px 6px 0;font-weight:600;color:#333;vertical-align:top;white-space:nowrap\">Number built<\/td><td style=\"padding:6px 0;color:#444\">2; delivered 1958, returned to the maker 1960<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The dream of air cavalry<\/h2><p>The flying jeep grew out of a bigger idea. In 1954 the paratrooper general James Gavin published a famous essay in <em>Harper\u2019s<\/em> arguing that the modern army needed a new kind of cavalry \u2014 not horses, but machines that could leap over terrain.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid  #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;I mean helicopters and light aircraft, to lift Soldiers armed with automatic weapons and hand carried antitank weapons, and also lightweight reconnaissance vehicles.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Gen. James M. Gavin<\/strong> &mdash; \"Cavalry, and I Don\u2019t Mean Horses,\" Harper\u2019s Magazine, 1954<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Out of that vision came a small fleet of experimental \"flying jeeps.\" Curtiss-Wright\u2019s entry, built by its Santa Barbara division, was the first of them to leave the ground.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jqAureDjOok\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=250026070  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:41It.c68c\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-takeoff.jpg\" alt=\"Curtiss-Wright VZ-7 flying jeep\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The VZ-7 in flight: a pilot, four propellers and a bare aluminium truss. The pilot steered by varying the thrust of each propeller. Photo: U.S. Army<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Plain, simple \u2014 and not quite enough<\/h2><p>The design could hardly have been simpler. A rectangular truss about 17 feet long carried the pilot, the fuel, and a single 425-horsepower Turbomeca turboshaft driving four upright propellers arranged in a square. To steer, the pilot simply fed more or less power to each propeller; moveable vanes in the exhaust handled the rest. It even lugged a recoilless gun during trials.<\/p><p>And it worked. Pilots found it stable, nimble and easy to fly. The trouble was that \"easy to fly\" was not the same as \"useful.\" Its top speed was barely 30 mph and it could not climb much above 200 feet \u2014 no armour, no speed, no ceiling. As one modern account of the project put it:<\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid  #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;Although the aircraft was quite maneuverable and easy to control, the Army found the VZ-7\u2019s speed and altitude capabilities insufficient and returned both vehicles to Curtiss-Wright in 1960.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Craig Bowman<\/strong> &mdash; Jets \u2019n\u2019 Props<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=1387858620  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:1lHq.c68a\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/piasecki-airgeep-ii.jpg\" alt=\"Piasecki VZ-8 Airgeep\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The VZ-7 was not alone: Piasecki\u2019s VZ-8 Airgeep chased the same \"flying jeep\" dream. All of the projects were abandoned for the same reasons. Photo: U.S. Army \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Soon after, every flying-jeep project was quietly shelved. The Army had realised that the helicopter already did the job better, and the humble jeep did the rest. One VZ-7 survives today at the US Army Aviation Museum.<\/p><p>And yet, look at any hobby-shop quadcopter, or the FPV attack drones now reshaping modern war, and the VZ-7 suddenly looks less like a failed curiosity and more like a machine that was simply seventy years early.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/36oAAklg8mU\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><em>Sources: Jets \u2019n\u2019 Props; Gen. James M. Gavin, Harper\u2019s Magazine (1954); U.S. Army Aviation Museum; Wikipedia.<\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Post correlati<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/avrocar-vz-9-pentagon-flying-saucer-coanda-vtol-cancelled-1961\/\">L&#039;Avrocar: quando il Pentagono costru\u00ec un disco volante<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-de-lackner-hz-1-aerocycle-the-armys-one-man-flying-platform\/\">The De Lackner HZ-1 Aerocycle: The Army\u2019s One-Man Flying Platform<\/a><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 1958 the US Army flew the VZ-7 \u2014 a manned quadcopter &#8220;flying jeep,&#8221; decades before drones. It flew beautifully, and was still not enough.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":5908719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5909146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Army\u2019s Flying Jeep | Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In 1958 the US Army flew the VZ-7 \u2014 a manned quadcopter &quot;flying jeep,&quot; decades before drones. It flew beautifully, and was still not enough.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"it_IT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Army\u2019s Flying Jeep | Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In 1958 the US Army flew the VZ-7 \u2014 a manned quadcopter &quot;flying jeep,&quot; decades before drones. It flew beautifully, and was still not enough.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T09:49:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:66Vm.c68b\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-flying-jeep.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"553\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Connor Kerr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Connor Kerr\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Connor Kerr\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bc7f2d09b1d7111c45fdb1335b8f2cf9\"},\"headline\":\"The Army\u2019s Flying Jeep\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T09:49:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":565,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-flying-jeep.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"History &amp; Legends\",\"Military Aviation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Army\u2019s Flying Jeep | Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-flying-jeep.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T09:49:27+00:00\",\"description\":\"In 1958 the US Army flew the VZ-7 \u2014 a manned quadcopter \\\"flying jeep,\\\" decades before drones. It flew beautifully, and was still not enough.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-flying-jeep.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-flying-jeep.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":553,\"caption\":\"Curtiss-Wright VZ-7 flying jeep, US Army\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Army\u2019s Flying Jeep\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"name\":\"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"width\":897,\"height\":278,\"caption\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/MiGFlug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/migflug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/migflug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MiGFlug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/migflug.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ch\\\/migflug\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bc7f2d09b1d7111c45fdb1335b8f2cf9\",\"name\":\"Connor Kerr\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Connor Kerr\"},\"description\":\"Connor Kerr writes MiGFlug\u2019s long-form features \u2014 aviation history, how-it-works explainers and the stories behind the headlines.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/it\\\/author\\\/connorkerr\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Army\u2019s Flying Jeep | Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","description":"In 1958 the US Army flew the VZ-7 \u2014 a manned quadcopter \"flying jeep,\" decades before drones. It flew beautifully, and was still not enough.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/","og_locale":"it_IT","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Army\u2019s Flying Jeep | Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","og_description":"In 1958 the US Army flew the VZ-7 \u2014 a manned quadcopter \"flying jeep,\" decades before drones. It flew beautifully, and was still not enough.","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/","og_site_name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","article_published_time":"2026-07-17T09:49:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":553,"url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:66Vm.c68b\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-flying-jeep.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Connor Kerr","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@migflug","twitter_site":"@migflug","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Connor Kerr","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/"},"author":{"name":"Connor Kerr","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/bc7f2d09b1d7111c45fdb1335b8f2cf9"},"headline":"The Army\u2019s Flying Jeep","datePublished":"2026-07-17T09:49:27+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/"},"wordCount":565,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:66Vm.c68b\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-flying-jeep.jpg","articleSection":["History &amp; Legends","Military Aviation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/","name":"The Army\u2019s Flying Jeep | Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:66Vm.c68b\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-flying-jeep.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-17T09:49:27+00:00","description":"In 1958 the US Army flew the VZ-7 \u2014 a manned quadcopter \"flying jeep,\" decades before drones. It flew beautifully, and was still not enough.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:66Vm.c68b\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-flying-jeep.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:66Vm.c68b\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-flying-jeep.jpg","width":1000,"height":553,"caption":"Curtiss-Wright VZ-7 flying jeep, US Army"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/curtiss-wright-vz-7-army-flying-jeep-quadcopter\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Army\u2019s Flying Jeep"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","name":"Afterburner - La rivista di MiGFlug","description":"Per chi \u00e8 interessato a pilotare aerei militari e argomenti correlati all&#039;aviazione.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization","name":"MiGFlug GmbH","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","width":897,"height":278,"caption":"MiGFlug GmbH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","https:\/\/x.com\/migflug","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/migflug\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MiGFlug","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/migflug.com\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ch\/migflug\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/bc7f2d09b1d7111c45fdb1335b8f2cf9","name":"Connor Kerr","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Connor Kerr"},"description":"Connor Kerr scrive gli articoli di approfondimento di MiGFlug: storia dell&#039;aviazione, spiegazioni sul funzionamento dei sistemi e le storie che si celano dietro i titoli dei giornali.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/author\/connorkerr\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5909146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5909146"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5909146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5909155,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5909146\/revisions\/5909155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5908719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5909146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5909146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5909146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}