When it comes to flying vehicles, you typically have your conventional airplanes and your conventional helicopters. The former needs space to take off but can reach higher speeds. The latter is not as fast, but can take off vertically, making it an invaluable workhorse. But there has always existed a creative and fascinating world of vehicles that try to combine the best attributes of both.

That is where you get vehicles like the gyrocopter, and tilt-rotor machines such as the V-22 Osprey employed by the United States military. The Airbus X3 is yet another one of those hybrid flying machines, but with a unique approach: