Designed for military operations, the saucer-like shroud keeps the spinning rotor from coming in contact with tree limbs and wires as it maneuvers down tight city streets during urban warfare. It was a hundred feet in diameter and forty feet high. According to Walden, it was destroyed when engine problems forced it down in a remote village. The villagers, mistaking the airship for something extra-terrestrial, attacked and destroyed it. Since his designs use solar power to run the electric fans that maneuver the craft, they could fly above ecologically-sensitive areas without creating noise or air pollution.
Military radar works by sending a radio wave out from a radar transmitter.
When the wave hits an object it reflects some of the wave back. A radar receiver located at the same place as the transmitter can then detect the wave. By knowing how long it took for the wave to return, what direction it returned, and if the frequency of the wave was shifted, the distance, location and speed of the object can be calculated and shown on the radar screen. Some objects reflect radio wave better than others. Flat objects will reflect a wave strongly in a particular direction.