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Russians Invade with Flying Saucer

Posted by michael on from the bem dept.

Ridgelift writes "Wired is covering a project revived from Russia by the US Naval Air Systems Command: The Ekip, a pita-bread-shaped, stubby-winged, wheel-less, unmanned ship that weighs in at 500 pounds. 'For more than two decades, engineers at a former Soviet aerospace plant have been toiling on a drone aircraft that looks a whole lot like a prop from Plan 9 From Outer Space.'"

5 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. Ever heard of the AVRO Car? by evil_one · · Score: 5, Informative

    AVRO Canada had a working flying saucer back in the height of the cold war.
    Link: http://www.avroarrow.org/Avrocar/Avrocar.html

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    Desperation is a stinky cologne
    1. Re:Ever heard of the AVRO Car? by digital+bath · · Score: 4, Informative

      Moller International has been working on personal 'skycars' for a long time. Some of their earlier models resemble flying saucers, strangely enough.

      I can't wait to own one of these, though.

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  2. Bad Design for Passengers.. by hopbine · · Score: 4, Informative

    One of the things that killed the passenger flying wing project was that folks on the outside of the aircraft will be going up and down too much when the plane rolls. This design appears to have the same problem. Hand out the sick bags!!!

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    Semper ubi sub ubi
  3. Ekip Aviation Concern Site by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Check out http://www.ekip-aviation-concern.com/ for a brouchure with lots of details and more pictures.

  4. The AVROCAR couldn't even get it up by Colymbosathon+ecplec · · Score: 5, Informative
    According to the article (yes I actually read it before posting, and yes I am new here): But despite piles of Pentagon cash, and years of testing, the Avrocar couldn't stay stable more than a few feet off the ground. The program was finally killed in 1965. An Avrocar test model can still be found in a National Air and Space Museum storage facility near Washington. A "working flying saucer"? I don't think so.

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