My theory of flying saucers is simple, they don't exist. However, strange sightings in the sky could be attributed to the fact that it takes many years to fully develop aeroplanes. Just imagine what the powers that be could be developing at this very moment, bearing in mind that the B2 is flying now and took several years to bring from the drawing board to a fully operational flying machine. What would you have thought if you had seen it flying 10 years ago?
Whatever the answer, I know that I have seen three flying saucers, all of them powered by Cox 049 engines, and varying in complexity from torque-reaction helicopters to simple ducted fan flying tubes, and all are shown below.
Have fun and watch out for little green men!
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I bought this ready made flying device soon after I saw this flying saucer at Middle Wallop in the Autumn of 2000. Built by an aeromodeller called Alan Jupp, who has built and flown many strange flying machines.
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The Nomad is the youngest of the three flying saucers (manufactured in 1998/2000), and the most sophisticated, but perhaps not as much fun as a result. However, it always attracts a lot of attention, because it is unusual, and is always fun to fly. In windless conditions it will rise up into the air and land almost at your feet.
My first attempts at flying it produced roars of laughter from my club-mates, because it took me so long to start the engine, it then only managed a flight of about five seconds - a ground hop of about three feet.
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| The Nomad on my kitchen floor | Great shot of the Nomad just after take-off (thanks George) |
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Now that the engine is run-in I get regular flights up to 250 feet high, and on one occassion on Chobham Common I happened to launch into rising air, and it became quite small before returning to earth.
In turbulent air it can become unstable and has turned upside-down, landing on the engine once, and on the expanded polystyrene frame on another.
It has one delightfull characteristic, that appears in the autorotation part of the flight. About half way throught the descent it starts to wobble, rather like a buckled bicycle wheel.
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I bought this from a chap on E-Bay, and what with the postal strike, and the fact that the post in the country concerned was a little slow, the Saucer took two months to arrive. However, it was well worth the wait, and now that the engine is run-in it flies as well as the Nomad, rising to a majestic height, whilst making the characteristic noise of an engine rotating at speed.
Much less sophisticated than the Nomad, and manufactured in about 1990/91, it relies on the engine, contained within a small duct to provide the lifting power. There is very little weight for it to lift, as it is largely contructed of white expanded polystyrene, but it still manages to rise quickly, and fall slower than the Nomad, but then the Nomad is now several seasons old and the polystyrene surround is rather fuel-soaked.
Rotation gives it stability, in the opposite direction to the propellor.
In fact it must be launched by firmly rotating clockwise. On the first launch managed to
do this anticlockwise, the machine rose, but the rotation soon began to slow, until it
stopped and started to spin clockwise.
Great fun, I thought, but on another occasion when I made this mistake the Sauncer became unstable and
crash-landed on its side.
I believe that it was manufactured in the 1980/90's
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| A UFO is sighted in a UK garden?! | Looks like a flying fruit bowl (great picture George) |
One thing about all the saucers I don't have to worry about is the possibility of them
catching a thermal and flying away! I should also mention that, whilst George was trying to take
these flying shots for me, I set the needle valve incorrectly, launched and the saucer completed
at least two laps of George at about 1 meter altitude, then landed, turned over and tried to
eat grass!!! Oh what fun.
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Yet another E-Bay purchase, but this time from a chap in the UK, this is the oldest of the saucers (manufactured in about 1978/79), and by far the heaviest.
Unlike the two previous machines this one is built of flexible plastic, and weighs more that both the other two put together.
After several attempts to fly it, I have finally managed a reasonable flight or two. It seems that the needle valve setting is very critical, and repeated attempts to fly it have resulted in flights typically reaching only a few feet, with several landings during each flight, followed by self-launches, and turnoves, and the machine trying to eat grass. This has not done the prop any good, but I think I have got on top of the settings required to make it fly.
One problem remains, and is seemingly unsolvable, and that is when the engine stops, and the saucer has reached a good height, the glide is seriously fast and steep. Last weekend it managed to dig holes in the soft grass on landing. So perhaps this is not a suitable flying machine for crowded flying sites!
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| A perfect day in May | Somewhat extreme flying angle? |
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A somewhat unimaginative name for such an unusual flying machine, but the real question is, "Is it a flying saucer?" I will let you decide for yourselves.
The power is provided by two small electric motors, mounted on the ends for the blue blades, and angled down at about 30 degrees. These motors are quite efficient and so make the noise characteristic of high-revving twin electric motors. When you combine this high pitched whine with a rotating platform the sound is really quite striking.
The following is going to sound like an advertisement. It is one of the most well thought out packages I have seen as it is supplied with a two channel 27meg tranny, two spare blades, two spare props, a prop remover tool (OK it's a bent bit of hard plastic), clear sticky tape to repair the blades after minor damage, eight D cells for the field charging base, and PP9 size battery for the tranny, plus a lead so that you can recharge the flight batteries through a cigarette lighter point in a car. It only takes five minutes to set up and is complete in every way. Fantastic.
So how does it fly? Well, it is very stable, and although you have to blip the throttle to hover, it is very controllable. It obviously only flies up and down and drifts down-wind, but on calm days, especially in the evening it is great fun to fly, and once the flight batteries have warmed up a bit, has good duration.
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| Six blades for extra stability | ... and she flies |