avrocar

The VZ-9- AV Avrocar was a Canadian VTOL aircraft developed by Avro Aircraft as part of a secret US military project carried out in the early years of the Cold War. Two prototypes were built as "proof-of-concept" test vehicles for more advanced USAF fighter and US Army tactical combat aircraft. The Avrocar intended to exploit the Coandă effect to provide lift and thrust from a single "turborotor." Thrust from the rotor was diverted out the rim of the disk-shaped aircraft to provide anticipated VTOL-like performance. In the air, it would have resembled a flying saucer. In flight testing, the Avrocar proved to have unresolved thrust and stability problems that limited it to a degraded, low-performance flight envelope; subsequently, the project ended ignominiously with the program cancellation in 1961.

Type: experimental "proof-of-concept" vehicle
Manufacturer: Avro Aircraft Ltd.
Designed by: John Frost
Maiden flight: 12 November 1959
Introduced: 1958
Retired: 1961
Status: experimental
Primary users: United States Air Force (intended)United States Army (intended)
Produced: 1958-1959
Number built: 2
Unit cost: Project cost: $10 million (USD)