Every time you hear something like ‘US Air Force built a real flying saucer,’ your first move is usually to say “Thanks, Uncle Charlie.” However in this case, it’s actually true! The Avrocar was the USAF’s attempt to build a field-ready transit vehicle that could travel on land and by air. Take a look below at the Avrocar test footage:
The Avrocar was a prototype vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft developed by Avro Canada in the 1950s. As a disc-shaped vehicle that used a ducted fan to create lift, with the pilot and controls located in the center of the disc, the Avrocar was intended to be a low-altitude, high-speed reconnaissance and surveillance aircraft – ultimately being cancelled due to technical difficulties and funding issues.
What went wrong? Well, the Avrocar had several design and technical challenges. It couldn’t maintain stability or control, and struggled to generate enough lift to achieve the desired altitude and speed. But like other inventions that never made it out of Beta development, the Avrocar’s innovative and ambitious development contributed to future VTOL aircraft technologies.
It’s fun to contemplate an alt-retrofuture in which soldiers are confronted by a fleet of Avrocars on the battlefield but probably not. Defeat was assured – all the enemies had to do was sit back and wait for the flying saucers to break down.
I hope you enjoyed this moment of scifi and space tech nerdery! Please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Have a great weekend! 🙂
