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the first public showing. They must have known that Avrocar was incapable of func- tioning properly and papers released by the Wright Research and Development Center in 1990 reveal many serious problems with the design. Primarily, these were unacceptable tur- bine inlet temperatures, which prevented the J-69 engines from achieving full power. This meant that the fan never reached the required speed and there was insufficient air- flow to meet performance requirements. A long list of associated problems followed and, perhaps most significantly, Avrocar proved very difficult to control in flight. The Avrocar tested at Malton can be found at the US Army Transportation Museum, Fort Eustis, Virginia. The other vehicle tested by NASA was even- tually sent to the National Air & Space Museum and it currently resides in the Paul E Garber Storage and Restoration Facility at Silver Hills, Maryland. Documents suggest a third Avrocar was completed at Malton. Nothing is currently known about this vehicle, although it proba- bly ended up as scrap. Several former Avro engineers have stated that Avrocar would have functioned as originally planned if suffi- cient money had been provided for full devel- opment. Frost completed design studies for a more advanced Avrocar, powered by two General Electric J-85 engines driving a 6ft (1.83m) diameter fan, with some central exhaust ducting for improved performance. Several variants were proposed and the first Mk2 Avrocar featured a single tail fin and a side-by- \ : i in side forward cockpit. The second concept S P was broadly similar but utilised short swept 2 wings with stabilising fins at the tips. Both pro: Sli cus posals retained the same 18ft (5.49m) diame- ter body size and four short hydraulically dampened landing legs were fitted. A num- ber of other Avrocar variants were studied and these included a series of commercial Avromobile concepts, a small remotely con- Zt trolled surveillance craft called Avrodrone we wséan aN ; S , pas and a naval anti-submarine vehicle called OB Avropelican, which both looked rather like the later Sikorsky Cypher. During June 1961 USAF involvement with Avro Canada ceased and by December of that year the programme was formally termi- nated. Avro Canada’s fate had already been sealed by the politically motivated cancella- tion of the CF-105 Arrow and the best remain- BK males | )\ ae ity Law SKS wey wove ver L.SS WZ ~ ZZ, UZ, IVS SS CARGO PARTTION KS oo sal f WN TSN TIP aN Ud SN WS REL AN \ Sei Hig) H UNONG CAE SPE Say rit 5 Cw my Ct 3 ll \4 y 77 Cutaway drawing of the Avrocar. USAF Main components forming the Avrocar. USAF Canada’s Cold War Saucers