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Though the MX-1794 was a bust,
it didn't keep the USAF from using the leftover cash to fund this
baby: the Avro Avrocar. Originally born as a joint
British-Canadian project, the Americans poured $7.5 million into
developing the idea.
The Avro saucer was supposed to
fly at subsonic speeds, hover like a helicopter, and soar up into the
stratosphere. It would be a warplane, a troop transport, a
flying ambulance and (all together now) a flying car. Well,
three out of ten, I suppose. It did fly subsonic, if a walking
pace can be called that. It did hover very well. But
whenever it flew more than three feet off the ground it became wildly
unstable. Not unlike some people I know. |
