THE AVRO AVROCAR
In the 1950's there was an experimental jet-engine propelled flying saucer, but it did not work very well; it relied on the ground effect and could not fly high. It was the Avrocar built by Avro Aircraft of Malton, Ontario, Canada. John C. M. Frost had the original idea which built upon earlier efforts by Henri-Marie Coanda in Europe. Three turbo-jets spun a central fan. It was abandoned in 1961.
With the proper weight to blade ratio, a craft with fan blade propulsion should fly as well as a conventional helicopter. That would be throughout the lower atmosphere but not as high and fast as some fixed-wing aircraft.
A ship with fan blade propulsion would not make radio noise or magnetic fields. It would make noise from the rapid motion of the air.
The Avrocar used three Continental turbojets, turning a central impeller ("turbo rotor") to keep it airborne with downward thrust, with a vane/shutter system to propell the craft in pretty much any direction by venting thrust in any direction desired. It was built to hold two human crewmen in separate cockpits on either side, facing front - total width of the Avrocar was 18 feet, with tricycle landing pads or wheels for undercarriage.
The maximum expected airspeed was originally about 700mph. As Avro worked on the design, expected airspeed dropped to 300mph. By the mid-50's, a very-secret project (unknown to even most Avro employees) was in full swing to build the Avrocar. The blades of the Avrocar turbo-rotor were hollow with internal re-enforcing, and brazed to cement the parts. The first turbo-rotor was tested for 150 hours without mishap.
By 1955, the costs of the project had escalated beyond the resources of the Canadian government. The project after that was underwritten by the US DoD (the USAF and Army were both interested.) The Avrocar first flew with a pilot on Dec. 5, 1959 (prior to that, it was tested unmanned). Two were built - one Avrocar was tested out at the Ames research center in California, the other remained with Avro for testing. Although the aircraft did fly, its ability to rise and top speed was extremely disappointing, mostly due to thrust dissipation in the impeller. The Avrocar was able to clear (small) obstacles without difficulty, but maximum altitude was never more than about 6 feet! The project was quietly closed down.
Both Avrocars are still intact, and survive somewhere in US museums.
The British developed hovercraft (the first being the British SRN-1) in the early 1960's -- basically an Avrocar propulsion system with a rubber skirt, which greatly improved the use of downward thrust.
The Moller Skycar Site: http://www.moller.com/skycar/
XM-2 Skycar
In 1962, Dr. Moller built a six to one scale model of the XM-2. Two years later in the garage of his residence in Davis, CA he began construction of the full size aircraft. As Moller Aircraft Corporation, Dr. Moller completed construction of this prototype using two 2-cycle McCulloch drone engines which produced enough power to allow the XM-2 to hover in ground effect in 1965. With the success of his first VTOL flight, Dr. Moller began to re-engine the XM-2 in 1966 with two Mercury outboard engines under UC Davis sponsorship. The re-engined XM-2 was then flown for the International Press at the UC Davis airport in 1966. In 1968 Dr. Moller received his first patent on this VTOL XM-2 configuration
All that was needed was a little more power!
M200X Skycar
Although the XM-4 design proved significantly more stable than earlier models, the engines lacked sufficient power to operate out of ground effect. So, with the acquisition of the necessary rotary engine technology from Outboard Marine Corporation in 1985, Moller International began modifications of their Wankel-type engines which offered a significantly improved power source. In 1987, the XM-4 was re-engined. The highly modified engines allowed for a 20% increase in power while decreasing the engine weight by 50%. Slight modifications were made to accommodate the new engines and this prototype was renamed M200X. In 1989, Dr. Moller again set out to Wow the world with yet another successful test flight. On May 10, 1989 Dr. Moller flew the M200X for the International Press. Since then the M200X has made over 200 successful flights.
A little more power and a considerably changed shape! M400 Skycar
Moller has developed, built, and flown a two passenger prototype model of a volantor. This volantor is a new type of aircraft that combines the performance of airplane and the VTOL capability of helicopters in a single vehicle without the limitations of either.
Using a principle similar to that of the British Harrier jump jet, the Moller volantor incorporates a patented thrust deflection vane system that redirects thrust, enabling it to hover or to takeoff and land vertically from almost any surface. This capability plus the added safety of ducted fans makes it ideal for a wide variety of commercial and military applications. These include private and charter air travel, express delivery, news gathering, border patrol, police and fire work, and search and rescue, to name just a few.
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