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A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft is one that can hover, take off, and land vertically. This classification includes fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and tiltrotors. Some VTOL aircraft can operate in other modes as well, such as CTOL (conventional take-off and landing), STOL (short take-off and landing), and/or STOVL (short take-off and vertical landing). Others, such as some helicopters, can only operate by VTOL, due to the aircraft lacking landing gear that can handle horizontal motion. VTOL is a subset of V/STOL (vertical and/or short take-off and landing).

Besides the ubiquitous helicopter, there are currently two types of VTOL aircraft in military service: craft using a tiltrotor, such as the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, and aircraft using directed jet thrust such as the Harrier family. Generally speaking, VTOL aircraft capable of V/STOL use it wherever possible, since it typically significantly increases takeoff weight, range or payload compared to pure VTOL.

Helicopter
The helicopter's form of VTOL allows it to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally. These attributes allow helicopters to be used in congested or isolated areas where fixed-wing aircraft would usually not be able to take off or land. The capability to efficiently hover for extended periods of time is due to the helicopter's relatively long, and hence efficient rotor blades, and allows a helicopter to accomplish tasks that fixed-wing aircraft and other forms of vertical takeoff and landing aircraft could not perform at least as well until 2011.

On the other hand, the long rotor blades restrict the maximum speed to about 250 miles per hour (400 km/h) of at least conventional helicopters, as retreating blade stall causes lateral instability.

Autogyro
Autogyros are also known as gyroplanes or gyrocopters. The rotor is unpowered and rotates freely in the airflow as the craft travels forward, so the craft needs a conventional powerplant to provide thrust. An autogyro is not intrinsically capable of VTOL: for VTO the rotor must be spun up to speed by an auxiliary drive, and vertical landing requires precise control of rotor momentum and pitch.

Gyrodyne
Gyrodynes are also known as compound helicopters or compound gyroplanes. A gyrodyne has the powered rotor of a helicopter with a separate forward thrust system of an autogyro. Apart from take-off and landing the rotor may be unpowered and autorotate. Designs may also include stub wings for added lift.

Cyclogyro
A cyclogyro or cyclocopter has a rotary wing whose axis and surfaces remain sideways across the airflow, as with a conventional wing.