Military flying saucers
Encyclopedia
The development of military disc-shaped aircraft
apparently dates back to World War II
. A number of disc-shaped aircraft have been proposed over the years, a few being built.
, and the Vought XF5U
).
, a number of disc-shaped aircraft were proposed by aircraft designers in Nazi Germany
. One of the few to make it further than the drawing board was the Sack AS.6, an experimental lightplane with a round-winged planform that first flew in 1944. The aircraft proved unsuccessful, and was scrapped in early 1945.
some research was carried out by a number of designers on circular wings. Led by design-engineer Charles Zimmerman, Chance-Vought
led a series of designs that eventually resulted in the Vought Flying Flapjack
, perhaps the first aircraft explicitly designed as a disc for aerodynamic reasons. Generally wings with large chord (front to back length) compared to span (side to side length), described by a wing's aspect ratio
, have very poor performance due to high induced drag
. One way to avoid this problem is to taper the wingtips to a point, which is why the Supermarine Spitfire
used an elliptical planform. In the Flapjack this was taken to an extreme, resulting in a plane with a huge wing and very low wing loading
, allowing it to take off from aircraft carrier
s with ease. The Flapjack's engine's were moved to the ends of the wings to further reduce the drag induced by air currents there. By the time the design was flying in the post-war era, jet engine
s had rendered the design obsolete and the US Navy
lost interest.
In 1943, the Boeing Aircraft built 3 scale model aircraft designs that had saucer-shaped wings with a propellor in the front and a tail rudder in the back. The cockpit, (where the pilot sat), was to be in front of the wings. There was no actual fuselage in the center. The aircraft model numbers were 390, 391, and 396. They were to be powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-4360-3 Wasp Major radial engine and capable of reaching speeds of 414 mph and intended to be fighter planes, armed with 4 20mm cannons and underwing hardpoints that could carry 2 500 lb. bombs or external fuel tanks. Boeing submitted the proposals to the US Navy. The wing design had excellent Short TakeOff and Landing charteristics, and STOL is preferred for fixed-wing aircraft carrier planes. The Navy rejected the Boeing designs in favor of the similar-shaped Chance-Vought V-173/XF5U-1 aircraft.
s by Lockheed Corporation
for the USAF
, and by Convair
for the CIA
. The saucer had the advantages of being a Vertical take-off and landing
design (so avoiding the need for easily damaged runways), while the shape was well suited to diffusing radar
and so making the craft stealthy
. These early designs were apparently powered by turbojet
s, which powered a horizontal rotor to provide lift
using the Coandă effect
.
In an apparent attempt to quell speculation about the military nature of flying saucers, a press conference was held in July 1952
, at which Major John A. Sandford denied any knowledge of the craft, and retired Major Donald E. Keyhoe
declared his belief that they were of alien origin. In 1957 Keyhoe became head of the civilian UFO
group NICAP
(National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena.
Meanwhile in Canada
, the Avro Canada
company was also attempting to develop saucer shaped craft, funded (initially) by the Canadian government. John Frost
had initiated the design while experimenting with different ways to build more efficient jet engine
s, eventually settling on a large disc-shaped device with the exhaust towards the outside. He then wrapped the smallest possible airframe around the engine, piping the exhausts to the rear. For VTOL
the aircraft sat on its tail for takeoff and landing, generating lift in forward flight as a large delta wing
.
Frost also became interested in the Coandă effect
to produce lift, eventually abandoning the original delta wing design and replacing it with a true disc. In this model the exhaust was directed downward around the entire disc by a flap ringing the aircraft, allowing it to take off and land "flat". Once in flight the flap would be angled slightly, producing a small downforce while being directed to the rear. Little lift would be generated by conventional means, the engine exhaust would instead be used to build an "artificial wing" by directing the airflow around the craft. He offered a number of increasingly dramatic performance estimates, generally claiming Mach 4 performance at 80,000 ft (24,000 m), at which point the USAF took over funding under Weapon System 606A. The result was a 29-foot (8.9 m) diameter supersonic Project Y2.
Testing soon revealed that the entire concept was unworkable; the craft would be highly unstable at supersonic speeds. Avro nevertheless continued work on the project as a subsonic design known as Project Silver Bug. Silver Bug was of interest to the US Army
, who was looking for solutions for battlefield transport and support, and they took over most of the project funding. The final outcome of Silver Bug was the Avrocar or VZ-9AV, effectively (and unintentionally) a prototype hovercraft
rather than an aircraft, which was made public in 1961. After Avro experienced financial difficulties in 1959, funding for future projects was apparently directed to the Bell Aircraft Corporation
. Meanwhile the helicopter
had proven to be the solution the Army was looking for.
is a doughnut-shaped, experimental, prototype unmanned vertical takeoff and landing aerial vehicle. The Sikorsky Cypher II, (a.k.a. Sikorsky Mariner), followup aircraft has wings extending from the left and right sides of the aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
apparently dates back to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. A number of disc-shaped aircraft have been proposed over the years, a few being built.
Nemeth Umbrella Plane
In 1934, at Miami University (of Ohio), an aircraft called the Nemeth Umbrella Plane (aka Roundwing) was tested. (Nemeth is sometimes spelled Nuneth.) This aircraft had a circular wing on top of the rectangular fuselage, a propeller in front, wheels underneath the fuselage and a rudder with tail fins. There were no wings extending from the middle of the fuselage. The aircraft looked like the AWACS plane, except for the missing middle wings. The aircraft is named in the 1976 reference book "Airplanes of the World" as the "Flying Saucer" plane, (the book also mentions the Avro Avrocar, the Vought V-173Vought V-173
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Chant, Christopher. Fantastic Aircraft. New York: Gallery Books, 1984. ISBN 0-8317-3-189-3.* Ginter, Steve. Chance Vought V-173 and XFU-1 Flying Pancakes . Simi Valley, CA: Steve Ginter Publishing, 1992. ISBN 0-942612-21-3.* Guyton, Boone T...
, and the Vought XF5U
Vought XF5U
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Chant, Christopher. Fantastic Aircraft. New York: Gallery Books, 1984. ISBN 0-8317-3-189-3.* Ginter, Steve. Chance Vought V-173 and XF5U-1 Flying Pancakes . Simi Valley, CA: Steve Ginter Publishing, 1992. ISBN 0-942612-21-3.* Guyton, Boone and Paul Marcus. "The Ups and...
).
Sack AS.6
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a number of disc-shaped aircraft were proposed by aircraft designers in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. One of the few to make it further than the drawing board was the Sack AS.6, an experimental lightplane with a round-winged planform that first flew in 1944. The aircraft proved unsuccessful, and was scrapped in early 1945.
Vought Flying Flapjack
During WWIIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
some research was carried out by a number of designers on circular wings. Led by design-engineer Charles Zimmerman, Chance-Vought
Vought
Vought is the name of several related aerospace firms. These have included, in the past, Lewis and Vought Corporation, Chance Vought, Vought Sikorsky, LTV Aerospace , Vought Aircraft Companies, and the current Vought Aircraft Industries. The first incarnation of Vought was established by Chance M...
led a series of designs that eventually resulted in the Vought Flying Flapjack
Vought XF5U
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Chant, Christopher. Fantastic Aircraft. New York: Gallery Books, 1984. ISBN 0-8317-3-189-3.* Ginter, Steve. Chance Vought V-173 and XF5U-1 Flying Pancakes . Simi Valley, CA: Steve Ginter Publishing, 1992. ISBN 0-942612-21-3.* Guyton, Boone and Paul Marcus. "The Ups and...
, perhaps the first aircraft explicitly designed as a disc for aerodynamic reasons. Generally wings with large chord (front to back length) compared to span (side to side length), described by a wing's aspect ratio
Aspect ratio (wing)
In aerodynamics, the aspect ratio of a wing is essentially the ratio of its length to its breadth . A high aspect ratio indicates long, narrow wings, whereas a low aspect ratio indicates short, stubby wings....
, have very poor performance due to high induced drag
Lift-induced drag
In aerodynamics, lift-induced drag, induced drag, vortex drag, or sometimes drag due to lift, is a drag force that occurs whenever a moving object redirects the airflow coming at it. This drag force occurs in airplanes due to wings or a lifting body redirecting air to cause lift and also in cars...
. One way to avoid this problem is to taper the wingtips to a point, which is why the Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
used an elliptical planform. In the Flapjack this was taken to an extreme, resulting in a plane with a huge wing and very low wing loading
Wing loading
In aerodynamics, wing loading is the loaded weight of the aircraft divided by the area of the wing. The faster an aircraft flies, the more lift is produced by each unit area of wing, so a smaller wing can carry the same weight in level flight, operating at a higher wing loading. Correspondingly,...
, allowing it to take off from aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s with ease. The Flapjack's engine's were moved to the ends of the wings to further reduce the drag induced by air currents there. By the time the design was flying in the post-war era, jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
s had rendered the design obsolete and the US Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
lost interest.
In 1943, the Boeing Aircraft built 3 scale model aircraft designs that had saucer-shaped wings with a propellor in the front and a tail rudder in the back. The cockpit, (where the pilot sat), was to be in front of the wings. There was no actual fuselage in the center. The aircraft model numbers were 390, 391, and 396. They were to be powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-4360-3 Wasp Major radial engine and capable of reaching speeds of 414 mph and intended to be fighter planes, armed with 4 20mm cannons and underwing hardpoints that could carry 2 500 lb. bombs or external fuel tanks. Boeing submitted the proposals to the US Navy. The wing design had excellent Short TakeOff and Landing charteristics, and STOL is preferred for fixed-wing aircraft carrier planes. The Navy rejected the Boeing designs in favor of the similar-shaped Chance-Vought V-173/XF5U-1 aircraft.
Avrocar
In the US, a number of experimental saucer shaped craft were apparently developed as black projectBlack project
In the United States and United Kingdom, a black project is in the vernacular a classified military/defense project, unacknowledged publicly by the government, military personnel, and defense contractors. Examples of U.S...
s by Lockheed Corporation
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
for the USAF
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
, and by Convair
Convair
Convair was an American aircraft manufacturing company which later expanded into rockets and spacecraft. The company was formed in 1943 by the merger of Vultee Aircraft and Consolidated Aircraft, and went on to produce a number of pioneering aircraft, such as the Convair B-36 bomber, and the F-102...
for the CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
. The saucer had the advantages of being a Vertical take-off and landing
VTOL
A vertical take-off and landing aircraft is one that can hover, take off and land vertically. This classification includes fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and tiltrotors...
design (so avoiding the need for easily damaged runways), while the shape was well suited to diffusing radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
and so making the craft stealthy
Stealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...
. These early designs were apparently powered by turbojet
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
s, which powered a horizontal rotor to provide lift
Lift (force)
A fluid flowing past the surface of a body exerts a surface force on it. Lift is the component of this force that is perpendicular to the oncoming flow direction. It contrasts with the drag force, which is the component of the surface force parallel to the flow direction...
using the Coandă effect
Coanda effect
The Coandă effect is the tendency of a fluid jet to be attracted to a nearby surface. The principle was named after Romanian aerodynamics pioneer Henri Coandă, who was the first to recognize the practical application of the phenomenon in aircraft development....
.
1952 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1952:- Events :* The Royal Navy conducts the worlds first trials of an angled flight deck, aboard the aircraft carrier HMS Triumph. It had been invented by Royal Navy Captain Dennis R. F. Campbell,* The Royal Navy conducts the worlds first trials of a...
, at which Major John A. Sandford denied any knowledge of the craft, and retired Major Donald E. Keyhoe
Donald Keyhoe
Donald Edward Keyhoe was an American Marine Corps naval aviator, writer of many aviation articles and stories in a variety of leading publications, and manager of the promotional tours of aviation pioneers, especially of Charles Lindbergh.In the 1950s he became well-known as an UFO researcher,...
declared his belief that they were of alien origin. In 1957 Keyhoe became head of the civilian UFO
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
group NICAP
National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena
The National Investigations Committee On Aerial Phenomena was a civilian unidentified flying object research group active in the United States from the 1950s to the 1980s.-Overview:...
(National Investigations Committee on Aerial Phenomena.
Meanwhile in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the Avro Canada
Avro Canada
Commonly known as Avro Canada, this company started in 1945 as an aircraft plant and became within thirteen years the third-largest company in Canada, one of the largest 100 companies in the world, and directly employing over 50,000...
company was also attempting to develop saucer shaped craft, funded (initially) by the Canadian government. John Frost
John Carver Meadows Frost
John Carver Meadows Frost known as "Jack" was a British aircraft designer. His primary contributions centred on pioneering supersonic British experimental aircraft and as the chief designer who shepherded Canada's first jet fighter project, the Avro Canada CF-100, to completion...
had initiated the design while experimenting with different ways to build more efficient jet engine
Jet engine
A jet engine is a reaction engine that discharges a fast moving jet to generate thrust by jet propulsion and in accordance with Newton's laws of motion. This broad definition of jet engines includes turbojets, turbofans, rockets, ramjets, pulse jets...
s, eventually settling on a large disc-shaped device with the exhaust towards the outside. He then wrapped the smallest possible airframe around the engine, piping the exhausts to the rear. For VTOL
VTOL
A vertical take-off and landing aircraft is one that can hover, take off and land vertically. This classification includes fixed-wing aircraft as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as cyclogyros/cyclocopters and tiltrotors...
the aircraft sat on its tail for takeoff and landing, generating lift in forward flight as a large delta wing
Delta wing
The delta wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta .-Delta-shaped stabilizers:...
.
Coanda effect
The Coandă effect is the tendency of a fluid jet to be attracted to a nearby surface. The principle was named after Romanian aerodynamics pioneer Henri Coandă, who was the first to recognize the practical application of the phenomenon in aircraft development....
to produce lift, eventually abandoning the original delta wing design and replacing it with a true disc. In this model the exhaust was directed downward around the entire disc by a flap ringing the aircraft, allowing it to take off and land "flat". Once in flight the flap would be angled slightly, producing a small downforce while being directed to the rear. Little lift would be generated by conventional means, the engine exhaust would instead be used to build an "artificial wing" by directing the airflow around the craft. He offered a number of increasingly dramatic performance estimates, generally claiming Mach 4 performance at 80,000 ft (24,000 m), at which point the USAF took over funding under Weapon System 606A. The result was a 29-foot (8.9 m) diameter supersonic Project Y2.
Testing soon revealed that the entire concept was unworkable; the craft would be highly unstable at supersonic speeds. Avro nevertheless continued work on the project as a subsonic design known as Project Silver Bug. Silver Bug was of interest to the US Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
, who was looking for solutions for battlefield transport and support, and they took over most of the project funding. The final outcome of Silver Bug was the Avrocar or VZ-9AV, effectively (and unintentionally) a prototype hovercraft
Hovercraft
A hovercraft is a craft capable of traveling over surfaces while supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air which is ejected against the surface below and contained within a "skirt." Although supported by air, a hovercraft is not considered an aircraft.Hovercraft are used throughout...
rather than an aircraft, which was made public in 1961. After Avro experienced financial difficulties in 1959, funding for future projects was apparently directed to the Bell Aircraft Corporation
Bell Aircraft
The Bell Aircraft Corporation was an aircraft manufacturer of the United States, a builder of several types of fighter aircraft for World War II but most famous for the Bell X-1, the first supersonic aircraft, and for the development and production of many important civilian and military helicopters...
. Meanwhile the helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
had proven to be the solution the Army was looking for.
Other
The Sikorsky CypherSikorsky Cypher
|-References:This article contains material that originally came from the web article by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain.-External links:*...
is a doughnut-shaped, experimental, prototype unmanned vertical takeoff and landing aerial vehicle. The Sikorsky Cypher II, (a.k.a. Sikorsky Mariner), followup aircraft has wings extending from the left and right sides of the aircraft
Books
- Rose, Bill; Tony Buttler. Secret Projects: Flying Saucer Aircraft, Midland Publishing, 2004 ISBN 978-1857802337
See also
- AeroshellAeroshellAn aeroshell is a rigid heat-shielded shell that protects a vehicle from pressure and heat created by drag during atmospheric entry , slows it down during entry, and may protect it from debris during spaceflight...
- Avrocar
- Flying flapjack
- Flying wingFlying wingA flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft which has no definite fuselage, with most of the crew, payload and equipment being housed inside the main wing structure....
- Lenticular Reentry VehicleLenticular Reentry VehicleThe Lenticular Reentry Vehicle , according to a November 2000 Popular Mechanics cover story, was an experimental nuclear warhead delivery system under development during the Cold War by defense contractor North American Aviation, managed out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.The...
- Nazi UFOsNazi UFOsIn science fiction, conspiracy theory, and underground comic books, stories or claims circulate linking UFOs to Nazi Germany. These German UFO theories describe supposedly successful attempts to develop advanced aircraft or spacecraft prior to and during World War II, and further claim the...
- Skunk worksSkunk worksSkunk Works is an official alias for Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Development Programs , formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. Skunk Works is responsible for a number of famous aircraft designs, including the U-2, the SR-71 Blackbird, the F-117 Nighthawk, and the F-22 Raptor...