A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can take off and land vertically without relying on a runway. This classification can include a variety of types of aircraft including helicopters as well as thrust-vectoring fixed-wing aircraft and other hybrid aircraft with powered rotors such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and gyrodynes.

VTOL stands for vertical take-off and landing and, as the name suggests, refers to aircraft that can take off, hover, and land vertically. The best-known example is the helicopter, but the F35B fighter jet can also take-off and land from a standing start off the back of an aircraft carrier.

Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft include fixed-wing aircraft that can hover, take off and land vertically, as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as tiltrotors.

VTOL stands for “vertical take-off and landing.” As the name implies, it denotes a kind of aircraft that can launch and land from a single spot. Since aerial vehicles equipped with VTOL technologies don’t require the horizontal space of a runway, they can start and end from virtually any location on the globe.