Flying saucers are generally associated with UFOs, with that "U" in there standing for "unidentified." But the saucer shape isn't just limited to aliens from outer space: there are a fair number of entirely identified terrestrial aircraft that utilize a more or less circular and saucery design.
We've got a list of ten flying saucers for you, each of which made it far enough out of someone's imagination that at the very least a proof of concept was constructed. No blurry pictures that may or may-not-be-streetlights here: these are all real designs that actually existed.
Showing posts with label Man-made. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Man-made. Show all posts
Saturday, July 02, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2005
Forgotten Flying Saucer Rusting in Central Russian Aviation Center
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| A unique ’flying saucer’ developed by Russian inventors is aging at an aviation plant in Central Russia, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper wrote on Thursday. | By Mos News 2-24-05 |
The aircraft can take off from any surface with the help of an air cushion. In 1988 it started test flights in Nizhny Novgorod but was moved to Saratov after an accident. U.S. aviation constructors visited Nizhny Novgorod and attempted to make their own saucer, but failed because of a defect in the Soviet model. Later the Soviet constructors managed to remove the defect.
Specialists at the Saratov plant quoted by the paper complained about the indifference of the Russian authorities towards the “saucer” project.
In 1993, it was financed by the Security Council, State Committee of Problems of the North (the saucer was going to be used in the North of Russia), and forestry agencies. However, after 1999 state financing stopped.
In September 2003, officials from the U.S. Congress visited Saratov and the plant concluded a cooperation protocol with the company NAVAIR that deals in aviation equipment. The newspaper failed to mention if the deal was successful.
