Lack of tail structure on saucer would cut risk to a pilot during bail-out. Close-up of one of the many jet exhaust ports around the saucers circumference shows how lift is achieved. When the lower flap is deflected, the jet blast is diverted downward. Air above the saucer then flows down with the jet stream. This reduces pressure on the top surface and the pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces causes the saucer to rise.
Deflected jets provide additional lift.
Saucer s many-fingered jet pipes provide lift and directional control for craft. But persistent and fairly credible rumors recur that a Canadian aircraft manufacturer, A. V. Roe, Canada, Ltd., has had a saucer design under development for two years. The A. V. Roe people maintain a confusing silence about the whole thing. They can't deny the project has been abandoned because they never announced it had begun. At a recent meeting of engineers, it was indicated that, while flying saucer or sphere projects may still be purely hypothetical, new air-defense problems are setting up requirements for aircraft performance that would seem to be most ideally met by a saucer craft such as illustrated above.