Yes T.A., the pancake was a spectacular design . Testing of concept models showed tail-sitting hovering modes but the full size craft did not seem to have sufficient rotor lifting power for hover.
Footage of it landing at what almost appears to be running pace, (I'm exaggerating slightly) shows it possible suitability for ship board use and landing on rough and remote tiny island airstrips.
Watching the doco "strange planes" seems to suggest that due the requirement for greater power to match other fighters speed, the drive-train complexity escalated and the weight penalty offset the performance gain.


The british alternative to island combat fighter support was the Saunders Roe jet seaplane where you could have jet speed and still land almost anywhere in the lee of an island.