page_title: Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar
section_title: Genesis of the Avrocar
hierarchical_section_title: Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar / Design and development / Genesis of the Avrocar
caption_attribution_description: Army Avrocars depicted as "flying jeeps" in company literature
context_page_description: The Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar was a VTOL aircraft developed by Avro Canada as part of a secret U.S. military project carried out in the early years of the Cold War. The Avrocar intended to exploit the Coandă effect to provide lift and thrust from a single "turborotor" blowing exhaust out the rim of the disk-shaped aircraft. In the air, it would have resembled a flying saucer.
  Originally designed as a fighter-like aircraft capable of very high speeds and altitudes, the project was repeatedly scaled back over time and the U.S. Air Force eventually abandoned it. Development was then taken up by the U.S. Army for a tactical combat aircraft requirement, a sort of high-performance helicopter. In flight testing, the Avrocar proved to have unresolved thrust and stability problems that limited it to a degraded, low-performance flight envelope; subsequently, the project was cancelled in September 1961.
  Through the history of the program, the project was referred to by a number of different names. Avro referred to the efforts as Project Y, with individual vehicles known as Spade and Omega. Project Y-2 was later funded by the U.S.
context_section_description: To gather flight data on the basic concept while the engine development continued, in 1958 Frost proposed building a smaller "proof-of-concept" test vehicle he called the Avrocar. By this point, the U.S. Army was involved in a wide variety of experiments on smaller VTOL aircraft that would act as a "flying Jeep," and they became interested in Avro's concept as well. Frost pitched his smaller design both as a prototype of a vehicle suitable for the Army's needs, as well as an aerodynamic testbed for the WS-606. Initial performance requirements for the Avrocar were a ten-minute hover capability in ground effect and 25-mile (40 km) range with a 1,000 lb (450 kg) payload.
  The new plan appeared to make everybody happy, and a $2 million joint-services contract managed by the Air Force was awarded to Avro to build and test two Avrocars, which the Army referred to as the VZ-9-AV (with AV standing for "Avro," an unusual departure from normal U.S. Army nomenclature), the latest in a series of "VZ" aircraft. Army interest in the Avrocar program was apparently very high. Bernard Lindenbaum of the Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory recalls a trip to Washington in the late 1950s to request additional funding for a study on helicopter drag reduction. Although the funding was approved, he overheard an Army General remark that the Huey would be the last helicopter the Army would buy since the helicopter would be replaced by the Avrocar.
  Additional Air Force funding of approximately $700,000 (unexpended from the 606A program) was also moved to the Avrocar project. In March 1959, an additional $1.77 million contract was received for a second prototype. At rollout, projected performance was far in excess of the requirement, with a 225 knots (417 km/h) maximum speed, 10,000 feet (3,000 m) ceiling, 130-mile (209 km) range with 1,000 lb (450 kg) payload, and hover out of ground effect with 2,428 lb (1,101 kg) payload. Maximum takeoff weight with transition to forward flight out of ground effect was calculated to be 5,650 lb (2,560 kg), maximum weight with a transition in ground effect (GETOL) was 6,970 lb (3,160 kg).
  Just as the first working test models were being manufactured, disaster struck. The Canadian government cancelled the Avro CF-105 Arrow program on "Black Friday," 20 February 1959. The ensuing result was the lay-off of almost all Avro Canada employees, including those with the Special Projects Group. However, three days following the announcement of the Arrow cancellation, many of the Special Projects employees were rehired. But it wasn't quite business as usual. The team now included people from the CF-100 and CF-105 teams and the Special Projects Group was moved into the main building, which was nearly empty. As well, company "brass" became more involved in the group's operations.
  The USAF Project Office devoted to the Avro projects, recommended that the WS-606A and all related work (including the Avrocar) be cancelled. A "stop/go" work order came down and Frost was forced once more to try to rescue the project. In an elaborate effort, Frost made a resounding case for continuation of U.S. military funding. Late in May 1959, the USAF authorized Avro to continue the "flying saucer" programs.
caption: U.S. Army Avrocars depicted as "flying jeeps" in company literature
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