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IFO PICTURE LIBRARY (Identified Flying Objects)
page: 1share:
THE NORTHROP DISC
www.laesieworks.com...
All images in this gallery were supplied by the following site. !
www.laesieworks.com...
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
www.laesieworks.com...
All images in this gallery were supplied by the following site. !
www.laesieworks.com...
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
www.laesieworks.com...
In Canada, British and Canadian engineers were in the process of building a flying saucer of their own.
It was called Project Y, a Canadian venture into the unknown that was, for much of the 1950s, perhaps the most secret aviation project in the West. Half a century later, the Project Y story remains a remarkable chapter in the history of aerial design, an idea that came tantalizingly close to breaking all the rules of the sky, before collapsing in bitter disappointment for lack of money and faith.
seekers.100megs6.com...
Back in the '50s, the news that Canadians were building a flying saucer set off alarm bells at the CIA. Was the United States being left behind by its staunchest allies in the race for a technological edge? And if Canada could build a flying saucer, then surely the Soviet Union wouldn't be too far behind.
Mr. Chadwell wanted answers. The sense of urgency is tangible in a memorandum he sent in June of 1954 to his department heads, demanding reports on "the use by any foreign power or nation of non-conventional types of air vehicles, such as or similar to the 'saucer like' planes presently under development by the Anglo/Canadian efforts."
While CIA agents were dispatched to watch eastern skies for flying saucers, U.S. Air Force officers were visiting Malton, just outside Toronto, the headquarters of Avro Aircraft, a subsidiary of A. V. Roe Canada Ltd. and the British Hawker Siddeley Group.
After the war, Avro Aircraft, in Malton, Ontario was the place to be for hotshot aircraft designers fleeing Britain's doomed aviation industry. Among them was a supremely talented 31-year-old, John Frost, who had already earned a reputation for unorthodox design with the sleek de Havilland 108, a swallow-shaped research plane and arguably one of the most beautiful aircraft of all time.
In his own work at Malton, John Frost seemed to be groping his way. He was in search of the aeronautical holy grail of the age, the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) craft, but he began his research on a spade-shaped craft before settling in 1953 on a disc. The original concept called for a single flat turbojet to draw in air from above and force it out through nozzles around the edge of the craft. It would be kept aloft by a cushion of air and pulled upward by the Coanda effect.
The early work was carried out in total secrecy; only a handful of Avro workers were told what was going on. "It was so secret that when Frost would come to the welding shop, he would sketch the piece he wanted on some paper and, when we had finished, we had to put the sketch in a special garbage bag," Alex Raeburn, Avro's workshop superintendent at the time, recalls.
Verne Morse, a company photographer, was made privy to the secret only once it had begun to take shape. "There was a stupid rumour going around the plant that we were building a flying saucer, and everybody was laughing about it," he says. "Then one day I was called in by security, and I was told I needed clearance because we were building a flying saucer.
seekers.100megs6.com...
"My first impression was that this was ridiculous," but when he was taken past the guards, through Project Y's double doors, and saw the smooth metal disc taking shape, he was speechless. "It was a sense of 'Wow!' Just real awe."
But Project Y's first year was proving troublesome. The jet engine blew so hot it melted the steel structure of the craft, and its violent shaking would pop the rivets. When the U.S. Air Force officers arrived in September of 1953, the Canadian government, having spent $400,000 on the project, was glad to hand over the reins to a bigger sponsor. A.V. Roe, having failed to squeeze funds out of the British government, also welcomed the Americans with open arms.
In 1955, Project Y became the U.S. Defence Department's weapon system 606A, and a white USAF star was painted on the prototype's fuselage. Millions were now being poured into the project, and the cult of secrecy deepened yet further.
Mr. Raeburn recalls the day in 1955 that the U.S. Navy came to take the prototype away for wind-tunnel tests near Los Angeles. "We loaded it on a flatbed truck in the middle of the night. The police shut off all the traffic right down to Toronto harbour, and they put it on a U.S. tugboat. They even had one of our men sworn in to the U.S. Navy so he could go with it, along the Erie Canal, along the New York intercoastal waterway, and through the Panama Canal."
With the help of U.S. financing, Mr. Frost had redesigned the original concept, placing three small jet engines around a central fan that would suck in the air through a circular intake at the centre of the disc. The pilot would sit in a little oval cockpit to one side under a perspex bubble.
But the wind-tunnel tests suggested that secret weapon 606A had severe stability problems and was in constant danger of flipping over like a stiff pancake once the throttles were opened on its jets. Mr. Frost and his assistants tinkered away at the problems for another year, but had still not mastered them by the winter of 1960 when Spud Potocki, a former Polish air force flier, took the prototype for its first flight
seekers.100megs6.com...
Over the next few months, as Mr. Potocki attained a feel for the delicate controls, he was allowed to roam around the Avro compound, dodging in and out of hangars. Mr. Raeburn would often look out of his workshop window and see it floating by. "He would go up and down and hover over the concrete apron and look in the doors of the hangars. I remember the wind would suck the ice off the puddles and they would float around in the air like plates of glass."
Avro's management was overjoyed to see its flying saucer take to the air. The publicity department began designing brochures to capitalize on the aircraft's boundless potential for the day when the shroud of secrecy would drop away. It was to be called the Avrocar, and it would spawn a string of civilian and military spinoffs. There would be an Avrowagon for the family of the future, an Avroangel (an air ambulance that would zip to the scene of an accident and land on the spot) and an Avropelican for air-sea rescues and anti-submarine warfare.
Ken Palfrey, a draughtsman on the project, remembers Mr. Frost's far-reaching hopes. "He was planning to make one four times as big, to move troops in and out of battle, like helicopters do now."
The giant troop carriers would lurk under the enemy radar, drop their passengers and then zip into the stratosphere before the other side even spotted them. Mr. Happe recalls Mr. Frost excitedly visualizing the craft bouncing off the upper layers of the atmosphere, crossing continents in a single bound.
The reality was more mundane. The Avrocar hovered happily close to solid ground but became dangerously unstable at heights over 2.5 metres, however much Spud Potocki struggled with the controls. The USAF wanted to fit it with a tailplane to test whether that would correct the problem, but Mr. Frost, a design purist, refused to countenance the idea. "He wouldn't have it," Mr. Palfrey recalls. "When the Americans suggested that, it was about the only time I ever saw him angry."
Mr. Frost insisted he could fix the problems, but the U.S. military was rapidly losing interest. After spending $7.5-million, the Defence Department pulled the plug at the end of 1961, killing the Avrocar. Mr. Frost left the country a bitter man. "He was completely fed up," Mr. Palfrey says. "It was a sad story. He was a fine guy. A gentleman."
The designer ended up in Auckland, where he spent the rest of his days dreaming up gadgets for Air New Zealand, such as a hydraulic tail dock to allow engineers easy access to commercial planes. But it was small potatos compared to the cosmic ambitions of Project Y, and the sense of betrayal was as keen as ever when he finally retired in May of 1979.
In his valedictory interviews, Mr. Frost told the local press that he had been robbed of credit for inventing the Hovercraft by Sir Christopher Cockerell. The irony was that, at Malton, Mr. Frost's eyes had been so set on the skies he failed to spot the Avrocar's ground-hugging potential. Within a few days of leaving his job, he died. He was 63.
seekers.100megs6.com...
The legend of Project Y lives on in the Web pages of committed ufologists. Some speculate that it had been a stunning success, and the litany of design errors and disappointments recalled by Avro veterans was merely a cover story. Others believe the project was merely a smokescreen for the Pentagon's "real" flying saucer project being masterminded in secret bases such as Roswell, perhaps by mysterious superannuated Nazis such as Dr Miethe.
As for secret weapon 606A, the prototype is gathering dust in a corner of a Maryland warehouse that serves as a storage facility for the National Air and Space Museum. Jack Walker, a veteran pilot who shows visitors around, cannot understand why anyone would want to see it, and warns visitors not to get too close lest they be abducted by aliens.
The burnished metal disc, about 15 metres across, is lying unsung and forlorn under the wing of a Second World War Black Widow fighter. The perspex bubble over the cabin has been removed, and its instrument panel is in a cardboard box somewhere else. But you can still see where the edges were charred in the effort to get John Frost's futuristic vision off the ground.
seekers.100megs6.com...
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
In Canada, British and Canadian engineers were in the process of building a flying saucer of their own.
It was called Project Y, a Canadian venture into the unknown that was, for much of the 1950s, perhaps the most secret aviation project in the West. Half a century later, the Project Y story remains a remarkable chapter in the history of aerial design, an idea that came tantalizingly close to breaking all the rules of the sky, before collapsing in bitter disappointment for lack of money and faith.
seekers.100megs6.com...
Back in the '50s, the news that Canadians were building a flying saucer set off alarm bells at the CIA. Was the United States being left behind by its staunchest allies in the race for a technological edge? And if Canada could build a flying saucer, then surely the Soviet Union wouldn't be too far behind.
Mr. Chadwell wanted answers. The sense of urgency is tangible in a memorandum he sent in June of 1954 to his department heads, demanding reports on "the use by any foreign power or nation of non-conventional types of air vehicles, such as or similar to the 'saucer like' planes presently under development by the Anglo/Canadian efforts."
While CIA agents were dispatched to watch eastern skies for flying saucers, U.S. Air Force officers were visiting Malton, just outside Toronto, the headquarters of Avro Aircraft, a subsidiary of A. V. Roe Canada Ltd. and the British Hawker Siddeley Group.
After the war, Avro Aircraft, in Malton, Ontario was the place to be for hotshot aircraft designers fleeing Britain's doomed aviation industry. Among them was a supremely talented 31-year-old, John Frost, who had already earned a reputation for unorthodox design with the sleek de Havilland 108, a swallow-shaped research plane and arguably one of the most beautiful aircraft of all time.
In his own work at Malton, John Frost seemed to be groping his way. He was in search of the aeronautical holy grail of the age, the vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) craft, but he began his research on a spade-shaped craft before settling in 1953 on a disc. The original concept called for a single flat turbojet to draw in air from above and force it out through nozzles around the edge of the craft. It would be kept aloft by a cushion of air and pulled upward by the Coanda effect.
The early work was carried out in total secrecy; only a handful of Avro workers were told what was going on. "It was so secret that when Frost would come to the welding shop, he would sketch the piece he wanted on some paper and, when we had finished, we had to put the sketch in a special garbage bag," Alex Raeburn, Avro's workshop superintendent at the time, recalls.
Verne Morse, a company photographer, was made privy to the secret only once it had begun to take shape. "There was a stupid rumour going around the plant that we were building a flying saucer, and everybody was laughing about it," he says. "Then one day I was called in by security, and I was told I needed clearance because we were building a flying saucer.
seekers.100megs6.com...
"My first impression was that this was ridiculous," but when he was taken past the guards, through Project Y's double doors, and saw the smooth metal disc taking shape, he was speechless. "It was a sense of 'Wow!' Just real awe."
But Project Y's first year was proving troublesome. The jet engine blew so hot it melted the steel structure of the craft, and its violent shaking would pop the rivets. When the U.S. Air Force officers arrived in September of 1953, the Canadian government, having spent $400,000 on the project, was glad to hand over the reins to a bigger sponsor. A.V. Roe, having failed to squeeze funds out of the British government, also welcomed the Americans with open arms.
In 1955, Project Y became the U.S. Defence Department's weapon system 606A, and a white USAF star was painted on the prototype's fuselage. Millions were now being poured into the project, and the cult of secrecy deepened yet further.
Mr. Raeburn recalls the day in 1955 that the U.S. Navy came to take the prototype away for wind-tunnel tests near Los Angeles. "We loaded it on a flatbed truck in the middle of the night. The police shut off all the traffic right down to Toronto harbour, and they put it on a U.S. tugboat. They even had one of our men sworn in to the U.S. Navy so he could go with it, along the Erie Canal, along the New York intercoastal waterway, and through the Panama Canal."
With the help of U.S. financing, Mr. Frost had redesigned the original concept, placing three small jet engines around a central fan that would suck in the air through a circular intake at the centre of the disc. The pilot would sit in a little oval cockpit to one side under a perspex bubble.
But the wind-tunnel tests suggested that secret weapon 606A had severe stability problems and was in constant danger of flipping over like a stiff pancake once the throttles were opened on its jets. Mr. Frost and his assistants tinkered away at the problems for another year, but had still not mastered them by the winter of 1960 when Spud Potocki, a former Polish air force flier, took the prototype for its first flight
seekers.100megs6.com...
Over the next few months, as Mr. Potocki attained a feel for the delicate controls, he was allowed to roam around the Avro compound, dodging in and out of hangars. Mr. Raeburn would often look out of his workshop window and see it floating by. "He would go up and down and hover over the concrete apron and look in the doors of the hangars. I remember the wind would suck the ice off the puddles and they would float around in the air like plates of glass."
Avro's management was overjoyed to see its flying saucer take to the air. The publicity department began designing brochures to capitalize on the aircraft's boundless potential for the day when the shroud of secrecy would drop away. It was to be called the Avrocar, and it would spawn a string of civilian and military spinoffs. There would be an Avrowagon for the family of the future, an Avroangel (an air ambulance that would zip to the scene of an accident and land on the spot) and an Avropelican for air-sea rescues and anti-submarine warfare.
Ken Palfrey, a draughtsman on the project, remembers Mr. Frost's far-reaching hopes. "He was planning to make one four times as big, to move troops in and out of battle, like helicopters do now."
The giant troop carriers would lurk under the enemy radar, drop their passengers and then zip into the stratosphere before the other side even spotted them. Mr. Happe recalls Mr. Frost excitedly visualizing the craft bouncing off the upper layers of the atmosphere, crossing continents in a single bound.
The reality was more mundane. The Avrocar hovered happily close to solid ground but became dangerously unstable at heights over 2.5 metres, however much Spud Potocki struggled with the controls. The USAF wanted to fit it with a tailplane to test whether that would correct the problem, but Mr. Frost, a design purist, refused to countenance the idea. "He wouldn't have it," Mr. Palfrey recalls. "When the Americans suggested that, it was about the only time I ever saw him angry."
Mr. Frost insisted he could fix the problems, but the U.S. military was rapidly losing interest. After spending $7.5-million, the Defence Department pulled the plug at the end of 1961, killing the Avrocar. Mr. Frost left the country a bitter man. "He was completely fed up," Mr. Palfrey says. "It was a sad story. He was a fine guy. A gentleman."
The designer ended up in Auckland, where he spent the rest of his days dreaming up gadgets for Air New Zealand, such as a hydraulic tail dock to allow engineers easy access to commercial planes. But it was small potatos compared to the cosmic ambitions of Project Y, and the sense of betrayal was as keen as ever when he finally retired in May of 1979.
In his valedictory interviews, Mr. Frost told the local press that he had been robbed of credit for inventing the Hovercraft by Sir Christopher Cockerell. The irony was that, at Malton, Mr. Frost's eyes had been so set on the skies he failed to spot the Avrocar's ground-hugging potential. Within a few days of leaving his job, he died. He was 63.
seekers.100megs6.com...
The legend of Project Y lives on in the Web pages of committed ufologists. Some speculate that it had been a stunning success, and the litany of design errors and disappointments recalled by Avro veterans was merely a cover story. Others believe the project was merely a smokescreen for the Pentagon's "real" flying saucer project being masterminded in secret bases such as Roswell, perhaps by mysterious superannuated Nazis such as Dr Miethe.
As for secret weapon 606A, the prototype is gathering dust in a corner of a Maryland warehouse that serves as a storage facility for the National Air and Space Museum. Jack Walker, a veteran pilot who shows visitors around, cannot understand why anyone would want to see it, and warns visitors not to get too close lest they be abducted by aliens.
The burnished metal disc, about 15 metres across, is lying unsung and forlorn under the wing of a Second World War Black Widow fighter. The perspex bubble over the cabin has been removed, and its instrument panel is in a cardboard box somewhere else. But you can still see where the edges were charred in the effort to get John Frost's futuristic vision off the ground.
seekers.100megs6.com...
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
Moller XM-4 Skycar
Similar to the XM-3, the XM-4 was also a small two-passenger saucer-shaped aircraft. Encouraged by his earlier success of the XM-2 and XM-3 construction of this model began in 1970. The XM-4 featured eight Fichtel-Sachs rotary engines which surrounded the passengers in a circular pattern and debuted in 1974.
www.laesieworks.com...
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
Similar to the XM-3, the XM-4 was also a small two-passenger saucer-shaped aircraft. Encouraged by his earlier success of the XM-2 and XM-3 construction of this model began in 1970. The XM-4 featured eight Fichtel-Sachs rotary engines which surrounded the passengers in a circular pattern and debuted in 1974.
www.laesieworks.com...
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
CYPHER
SPAWAR Systems Center San Diego
MSSMP The Multipurpose Security and Surveillance Mission Platform (1992-)
www.laesieworks.com...
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
SPAWAR Systems Center San Diego
MSSMP The Multipurpose Security and Surveillance Mission Platform (1992-)
www.laesieworks.com...
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
AVRO PROJECT "SILVERBUG"
PROJECT NO. 9961
www.laesieworks.com...
Project Silverbug by Randall Whitcomb
Project Silver Bug was the American "Black" project version of the Avro Aircraft Canada Y-2/ Private Venture 704 project that was revealed to the United States Air Force in 1955.
Project Y-2 was begun by the Canadian John Frost, who was apparently in the loop on Nazi Saucer programs and was quite fascinated by them. It involved a "radial flow jet" engine design which was simply radical for 1955. As late as 1976 people were copyrighting ideas essentially identical to this 1955 design (see US Patent # 4,193,568). This aircraft was listed as being capable of over 80,000 feet and Mach 3 and able to hover at up to 18,000 ft. without using afterburners.
Due to newspaper leaks in the mid 50's a cover story for the Y-2/Silver Bug program was leaked to "Look" magazine which, while broadly similar, disinformed the public as to the radical engine (substituting many small conventional jets for the single radial flow) and the control systems to be used. Later in 1958 Avro Aircraft Ltd. was contracted to build a somewhat similar, small ground-cushion vehicle reminiscent of the "Look" magazine item for the USAF and US Army. I too am convinced that this "Avrocar" was constructed only for disinformation purposes while Y-2 went "Black" as a means of providing the US Gov't with "plausible deniability" and also the possibility of telling those who saw "flying saucers" that it was only that Avro vehicle.
At any rate, the Y-2 later Silver Bug item was an entirely other matter. It clearly DID go Black and the incredible performance projected by educated engineers for it really prove WHY it has been such a secret. The Saucer shape give natural "all aspect" stealth, the radial flow engine is capable of producing incredible thrust in an aerodynamically appealing shape, and the vertical take off and landing abilities gave the US the possibility of underground basing. All of these features provided the possibilty of "Cold War" winning technology in the 1950's! Clearly they didn't want the Soviets possessing any or suspecting their existence until they developed technology that could reasonably be expected to counter "stealth."
The strongest evidence that Avro built something to resemble Y-2 comes from 5.4 million dollars spent on Avro's own "Private Venture 704" including about 2 million dollars from the USA up to 1957. The Avrocar project was commenced after this time and used only 4 million or so to completion. Avro stated themselves that the first step in responding challenge of developing the Y-2 was to build the engine and the control duct system. Clearly this is where the first 5.4 million dollars went. With all that money came rumours and the Avrocar would be a great way to dispel them.
Meanwhile with the Avrocar, the project used a much less sophisticated arrangement in a much slower and lower flying design. It did prove the control system devised for the Y-2/PV 704/Silver Bug and provided publicly acceptable "proof" of the flying saucer design. It was also used to proved "proof" that the concept was UNFEASABLE!
The intial test flights revealed it was underpowered, unstable and could not transition to proper forward flight. Interestingly, recent films show the solved the instability problem.
There is testimony on the record that they also finished doing modifications required to allow the craft to transition to forward flight (after which it was expected to be capable of 300 mph). This is the date the US money disappeared and the project was terminated with all drawings, tooling, and flying examples taken to the USA. The examples at Wright Patterson and in the Smithsonian are NOT the final Avrocar version but early development models that were far from successful.
www.laesieworks.com...
www.laesieworks.com...
www.tje.net...
www.crystalinks.com...
www.tje.net...
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
PROJECT NO. 9961
www.laesieworks.com...
Project Silverbug by Randall Whitcomb
Project Silver Bug was the American "Black" project version of the Avro Aircraft Canada Y-2/ Private Venture 704 project that was revealed to the United States Air Force in 1955.
Project Y-2 was begun by the Canadian John Frost, who was apparently in the loop on Nazi Saucer programs and was quite fascinated by them. It involved a "radial flow jet" engine design which was simply radical for 1955. As late as 1976 people were copyrighting ideas essentially identical to this 1955 design (see US Patent # 4,193,568). This aircraft was listed as being capable of over 80,000 feet and Mach 3 and able to hover at up to 18,000 ft. without using afterburners.
Due to newspaper leaks in the mid 50's a cover story for the Y-2/Silver Bug program was leaked to "Look" magazine which, while broadly similar, disinformed the public as to the radical engine (substituting many small conventional jets for the single radial flow) and the control systems to be used. Later in 1958 Avro Aircraft Ltd. was contracted to build a somewhat similar, small ground-cushion vehicle reminiscent of the "Look" magazine item for the USAF and US Army. I too am convinced that this "Avrocar" was constructed only for disinformation purposes while Y-2 went "Black" as a means of providing the US Gov't with "plausible deniability" and also the possibility of telling those who saw "flying saucers" that it was only that Avro vehicle.
At any rate, the Y-2 later Silver Bug item was an entirely other matter. It clearly DID go Black and the incredible performance projected by educated engineers for it really prove WHY it has been such a secret. The Saucer shape give natural "all aspect" stealth, the radial flow engine is capable of producing incredible thrust in an aerodynamically appealing shape, and the vertical take off and landing abilities gave the US the possibility of underground basing. All of these features provided the possibilty of "Cold War" winning technology in the 1950's! Clearly they didn't want the Soviets possessing any or suspecting their existence until they developed technology that could reasonably be expected to counter "stealth."
The strongest evidence that Avro built something to resemble Y-2 comes from 5.4 million dollars spent on Avro's own "Private Venture 704" including about 2 million dollars from the USA up to 1957. The Avrocar project was commenced after this time and used only 4 million or so to completion. Avro stated themselves that the first step in responding challenge of developing the Y-2 was to build the engine and the control duct system. Clearly this is where the first 5.4 million dollars went. With all that money came rumours and the Avrocar would be a great way to dispel them.
Meanwhile with the Avrocar, the project used a much less sophisticated arrangement in a much slower and lower flying design. It did prove the control system devised for the Y-2/PV 704/Silver Bug and provided publicly acceptable "proof" of the flying saucer design. It was also used to proved "proof" that the concept was UNFEASABLE!
The intial test flights revealed it was underpowered, unstable and could not transition to proper forward flight. Interestingly, recent films show the solved the instability problem.
There is testimony on the record that they also finished doing modifications required to allow the craft to transition to forward flight (after which it was expected to be capable of 300 mph). This is the date the US money disappeared and the project was terminated with all drawings, tooling, and flying examples taken to the USA. The examples at Wright Patterson and in the Smithsonian are NOT the final Avrocar version but early development models that were far from successful.
www.laesieworks.com...
www.laesieworks.com...
www.tje.net...
www.crystalinks.com...
www.tje.net...
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
"most" hehe. Maybe all are IFO's, but it depends what department you work for doesn't it .
seem like avro really got into the whole flying saucer design eh?
that last design it really neat though. the 606 A
that last design it really neat though. the 606 A
Where/what is that recently declassified saucer craft that was on the History Channel on that lastest "Secrets of Roswell Reveiled" or something
like that? There was a nuclear powered reentry craft that was just released to the public, but I'm not sure if I saw it in the pictures.
The Vought XF5U, V-173 "Flying Pancake"
www.laesieworks.com...
The brainchild of Charles H. Zimmerman, the F5U was intended to perform well as a fighter plane while being able to remain in flight at extremely low airspeed, making it easier to operate from carriers. The F5U's unusual appearance owed to a very low aspect ratio wing without a fuselage, which resulted in something looking like a flying saucer. This shape, combined with powerful engines driving large propellers, could plow through the air at low speed (40 mph!), since the whole airframe is immersed in the prop wash. As a result, short takeoff and landing (STOL) performance was possible. At the other end of the performance envelope, the low aspect ratio and lack of fuselage would decrease drag, maintaining a high maximum speed. Maneuverability at all speeds would be improved by a small reduction in wing loading compared to conventional fighters, combined with a more compact shape and prop wash going over all control surfaces. Text source: The American Fighter, by Enzo Angelucci with Peter M. Bowers, Orion Books, 1987
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
www.laesieworks.com...
The brainchild of Charles H. Zimmerman, the F5U was intended to perform well as a fighter plane while being able to remain in flight at extremely low airspeed, making it easier to operate from carriers. The F5U's unusual appearance owed to a very low aspect ratio wing without a fuselage, which resulted in something looking like a flying saucer. This shape, combined with powerful engines driving large propellers, could plow through the air at low speed (40 mph!), since the whole airframe is immersed in the prop wash. As a result, short takeoff and landing (STOL) performance was possible. At the other end of the performance envelope, the low aspect ratio and lack of fuselage would decrease drag, maintaining a high maximum speed. Maneuverability at all speeds would be improved by a small reduction in wing loading compared to conventional fighters, combined with a more compact shape and prop wash going over all control surfaces. Text source: The American Fighter, by Enzo Angelucci with Peter M. Bowers, Orion Books, 1987
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
www.laesieworks.com...
www.laesieworks.com...
EKIP
"Ekologiya i Progres" (Ecology and Progress) aircraft project
www.laesieworks.com...
The ECIP, or Tarielka as it is affectionately known, is based of the aerodynamic hunch that a single flying wing is more efficient than today�s aircraft. Designer Lev Shukin and engineer Alexander Sobko have minimised all external structures leaving only stubby wings and fins for control. Even the engines have been moved inside the cabin to keep the craft as streamlined as possible. The shape of the fuselage provides 80% of the lift. Jet intakes suck air that is then blasted out the back to provide thrust or downward like a hovercraft to create a cushion of air which does away with the need for landing gear. Scale prototypes have flown some what erratically, but have performed well enough to prove for the refinement of the ECIP to continue.
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
www.laesieworks.com...
EKIP
"Ekologiya i Progres" (Ecology and Progress) aircraft project
www.laesieworks.com...
The ECIP, or Tarielka as it is affectionately known, is based of the aerodynamic hunch that a single flying wing is more efficient than today�s aircraft. Designer Lev Shukin and engineer Alexander Sobko have minimised all external structures leaving only stubby wings and fins for control. Even the engines have been moved inside the cabin to keep the craft as streamlined as possible. The shape of the fuselage provides 80% of the lift. Jet intakes suck air that is then blasted out the back to provide thrust or downward like a hovercraft to create a cushion of air which does away with the need for landing gear. Scale prototypes have flown some what erratically, but have performed well enough to prove for the refinement of the ECIP to continue.
[Edited on 31-8-2003 by quaneeri]
www.popularmechanics.com...
I just found this while searching around, but it isn't the one I was thinking of.
www.gpgwebdesign.com.au...
....And another one, but still not it.
I just found this while searching around, but it isn't the one I was thinking of.
www.gpgwebdesign.com.au...
....And another one, but still not it.
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Trudeau Resigns! Breaking
Mainstream News: 13 hours ago, 27 flags -
January 6th report shows disturbing trend (nobody is shocked)
US Political Madness: 10 hours ago, 22 flags -
Live updates: Congress meets to certify Trump's presidential election victory
US Political Madness: 14 hours ago, 12 flags -
The Truth about Migrant Crime in Britain.
Social Issues and Civil Unrest: 11 hours ago, 10 flags -
Gravitic Propulsion--What IF the US and China Really Have it?
General Conspiracies: 14 hours ago, 9 flags -
Let's talk planes.
General Chit Chat: 8 hours ago, 5 flags -
Greatest thing you ever got, or bought?
General Chit Chat: 15 hours ago, 4 flags -
Inexplicable military simulation - virtual reality showdown in the night..
The Gray Area: 10 hours ago, 2 flags
active topics
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January 6th report shows disturbing trend (nobody is shocked)
US Political Madness • 56 • : SteamyAmerican -
Let's talk planes.
General Chit Chat • 8 • : KrustyKrab -
Judge rules president-elect Donald Trump must be sentenced in 'hush money' trial
US Political Madness • 34 • : Vermilion -
Biden to award Presidential Citizens Medal to Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson
US Political Madness • 19 • : WeMustCare -
Trudeau Resigns! Breaking
Mainstream News • 66 • : ChaoticOrder -
Short vs. Long?
General Chit Chat • 16 • : whereislogic -
Gravitic Propulsion--What IF the US and China Really Have it?
General Conspiracies • 16 • : YouSir -
Greatest thing you ever got, or bought?
General Chit Chat • 21 • : rickymouse -
Islam And A Book Of Lies
Religion, Faith, And Theology • 12 • : nugget1 -
Trump says ownership of Greenland 'is an absolute necessity'
Other Current Events • 65 • : BingoMcGoof