Page 4 - Feb2020

Avro Canada Avrocar

Lancaster FM104 Update

The nose section has been unloaded from its
The Flying Saucer shipping container and moved to the Restoration
Hangar where initial work is underway to capture
The brainchild of A.V. Roe and chief designer John Frost,
pre-restoration details. Some external markings
the Avrocar was a revolutionary aircraft – capable of have been recreated to enable photographic
vertical takeoffs and landings.
documentation prior to restoration work on the
Initial funding for its development, during the years 1952 exterior of this section of fuselage. Detailed
to 1954 came from Avro Canada and the Canadian photographic records are also being captured of
Government. the interior of the fuselage prior to disassembly
After demonstrating the project to the United States Air and restoration.
Force, Frost succeeded in obtaining funding from the US
Military. Frost and his team then concentrated their
efforts on developing a supersonic disc-shaped vehicle.
In 1959, a series of wind tunnel tests were completed at
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Ames Research Centre in Moffett Field, California. Test
flights were later conducted at the Avro plant in Malton,
Ontario. The tests revealed serious design flaws and
stability problems and the Avrocar never flew higher than
one metre above the ground.

Funding for the project ran out before the necessary
modifications could be made. The Avrocar project was

shelved, but the lessons learned continued to influence
aviation development.

The Avrocar was added to the museum’s collection on

March 14, 2003.
Specifications

 Diameter: 26′ 10″
 Height: 5′ 6″
 Weight: 5,650 lbs
 Engines: Three Continental YJ69-T-9 turbojets