I can't resist posting this just for fun. Here are some "real" UFOs - or rather Real "Flying Saucers."
The French "Couzinet RC 360" was conceived from an engineering point of view as a "multiple wing aircraft" in that the "wings" are implicit aerodynamically in every direction of travel from 360 degrees. In other words, a flying saucer. The designer was hoping for an eventual VTOL capability as well. This is a preliminary 3/5 scaled jet powrered prototype in the Couzinet factory at Levallois-Perret. The project funding was cancelled by the French government before the first test flight.


Avro in Canada built this saucer which flew and hovered at low level. It was inherently unstable, which is not always a bad thing in a fighter plane (which it was not.) Here it is on the ground:

There are plenty of websites about it here.

The British "Skyship" was intended as a cargo carrier, and also could have had applications in lifting objects at construction sites.

It is essentially a saucer airship. Kind of cool. Might be a handful in a strong gust of wind.

Germany experimented with a saucer aircraft in WWII, unlike other very advanced German designs, it was rather crude and flew poorly.

Some “UFO” websites claim that the saucer plane could fly at supersonic speeds, achieve escape velocity, and “fly” in space. They avoid this picture of the actual plane in favor of an artist's conception. (But judging from the wooden propeller, fixed undercarriage, and fabric covered ailerons, the real plane would be difficult to reach supersonic speeds in.)

The U.S. Navy had an advanced saucer fighter plane many years ago. It did not enter service however.
There are other actual flying disc designs, but they all have one thing in common. They don’t fly well. Purely from a engineering point of view. If the objective is to fly well within Earth’s atmosphere, <a href="http://usaaf.com/aircraft/classes/images/PT13.jpg”>this is a much better design</a> than a saucer. Maybe not as glamorous as the saucer, but much better in the air.
Within the last 20 years however, many UFO observations have evolved over the “flying saucer” days – and the sightings by people today are now overwhelmingly in the mysterious lights category (often out of focus video images) rather than clearly seen shapes. Perhaps its easier to explain how they can move so quickly without a sonic boom or aerodynamic problems if they're a blur to begin with! [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Chip on 2002-06-06 20:03 ]</font>

M200X skycar

Airodynamic properties of a saucer shape vechicle make it a poor shape for an aircraft propelled by conventional means. On the other hand when we look at lifter technology proposals ...



Now over at NASA, their anti-gravity researches have made an anti-gravity disc:



NASA related Anti-Gravity research

So I wonder what happens when this little experiment is scaled up [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Phobos

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Phobos on 2002-06-06 21:39 ]</font>

Phobos,
Is this the experiment where they use a special laser, firing a series of rapid pulses under a saucer-like shape, propelling it upwards? I remember the idea was to eventually design a model that could attain an orbital altitude. Could perhaps lead to sending payloads into orbit more cheaply than rockets.

The laser used for the first tests (with miniature spinning metallic models), was originally designed for the "Star Wars" defense project.

Chip

No that was another experiment (but a very neat idea because it does away with 90% of the fuel requirement for the on-board fuel).

Dr Ning Li's work is best summed from a discussion thread from another board:

Skeggs & Ning Li on Gravitational Modification -- Superconductors, varying magnetic field

The popular mechanics url seems to work better with the following link:

Popular Mechanics Link (direct)

They also expand on the story here

ANTIGRAVITY? WELL, IT'S ALL UP IN THE AIR (Business Weeks link)

Dr Ning Li's work seems to have been inspired by the work of Dr. Eugene Podkletnov of Tampere University, Finland. Dr Podkeletnov managed to get a 2% gravitational shielding effect using superconductors.

More recently, I understand that by stacking 2 layers of "gravitational shields" he was able to increase the shielding effect to 4%. If this is true then I wonder what would happeen if we stacked 50 layers ?

Phobos

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Phobos on 2002-06-07 06:17 ]</font>

didn't groom lake try a flying saucer at one point?

You know, technically these aren't UFOs, since they've all been identified. So I think the title of the thread is a bit of a misnomer. Now if you had said "flying saucers" instead....

[img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img] [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img] [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Pretty cool stuff though.

__________________
...And that, my liege, is how we know the Earth to be banana-shaped. --Sir Bedevere

Silly me, what was I thinking?

Well, I'm off to work...(hate that freeway commute!)


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Chip on 2002-06-07 12:47 ]</font>

didn't area 51 try a flying saucer at one point (repeat)

Area 51 does not exist and the US government has no secret military black budget projects being tested in the 6 by 10 mile block of land forcefully purchased by the military for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

Phobos

<a name="20020609.2:5"> page 20020609.2:5 aka Nu.Li
On 2002-06-06 19:54, Chip wrote: To: explain
MY baINdex
1: IN French "Couzinet RC 360"
2:in Canada b
3:British "S
4:Germany exp
5:me UFO we
6:Navy ha
7:
8:
9:
10
1: anyway1:
2:the sequence shold be
3: 1 3 5 6 2 4
4: and not 1 2 3 4 5 6
5:beginning with whatever ****tons on
6:the compression cycle
7:not necessarily 1
8: if 6 is what's comming up next then its
9: 6 2 4 etc and definatly NOT 1 2 3
20 other than this the rest of the threads a "Total MISS"!
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Chip on 2002-06-06 20:03 ]</font>

Is there an Area 52?

What ever happened to Bob Lazar's Element #115 ... the atomic weight of which is so heavy that it leaks gravity waves ... which can be directed to repel or attract in the direction you wish to retreat from or go to ??

Fast Eddie,

I think that originates with Jules Verne (doesn't everything?) in his book, De la Terre de la Lune (1865). The antigravity substance is called "caverite".

(-; Chip

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Chip on 2002-06-12 03:26 ]</font>

chip, i remember the laser craft, it was a small scale proof od design thing, it was tested in new mexico, if i remember right, the concept was to blow up gases trapped under the "disk" shape, it was like a upside down bowl, the laser very high power, the inside of the overturned bowl is very shiny and shaped as such to condense the laser, this in turn heats up and explodes the gases under it, the same idea or type of design for blowing things up under a bowl, has included nukes, if you throw a whole bunch of small nukes under a bowl it would go up from the power,,,, i'm sleepy and incoherant.

__________________
ncredible
Justn

I believe the following linke is what Chip was looking for;

Laser Lightcraft

You may also find the following link interesting reading;

Laser-Boosted Rocket Sets Altitude Record

Phobos

Thanks for additional info Phobos and Justincredible.

Tregenna & Leik Myrabo (names right out of a Star Trek episode) have been working steadily on this project. Here's another press release. Interesting concept. I like the idea of "micro payloads" at low cost. Could perhaps some day open the door to Amateur Astronomy Satellite launching?

Phobos, great link, i saw the first test done at white sands on the news in Alb. it was less than impressive, they tested another conCept there as well, and it was very impressive, it was a kerosene vtol, shaped like a cone, it had a X-#, and i remeber it being dumped for lame reasons, it took off hovered and landed a few times, it had no smoke and was very cheap, it kinda looks like the rotor craft they are testing now, it might even be the same one without the rotor, energy systems that are cheap like lasers are the furture, nukes are to scary for the genaral public, better yes but to scary.

__________________
ncredible
Justn