The Aircraft That Shouldn't Have Been Able To Fly - But Did

The article recounts a series of unconventional aircraft that challenged conventional design by using experimental concepts such as disc-shaped VTOL platforms and radical propulsion systems. One highlighted example is the Avro Canada VZ-9 Avrocar, a Cold War “flying saucer” project that evolved as a proof-of-concept vehicle rather than a practical craft. Backed initially by the U.S. Air Force, it targeted theoretical performance of Mach 3.5 at 100,000 feet, relying on a Turborotor that used three jet engines to spin a 124-blade fan for lift and control. Despite two built prototypes, it suffered stability problems including a destabilizing pitch-roll wobble, and it never flew freely out of ground effect. Another case is the Vought V-173, designed around Charles H. Zimmerman’s discoidal “Zimmer Skimmer” concept; it flew in 1942 and used a geared power-routing propulsion system that contributed to an emergency landing during a propulsion failure.