The first prototype -- the Avrocar on display here -- was sent to NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California. There, wind tunnel tests proved that the aircraft had insufficient control for high speed flight and was aerodynamically unstable. The second prototype aircraft went to the U.S. Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, Virginia.
Avro Canada
VZ-9AV Avrocar
The Avrocar was the result of a Canadian effort to develop a supersonic, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighter-bomber in the early 1950s. Avro based its design concept on using the exhaust from turbojet engines to drive a circular “turborotor” which produced thrust. By directing this thrust downward, the turborotor would create a cushion of air upon which the aircraft would float at low altitude. Tests with scale models at Wright-Patterson AFB indicated that the cushion of air under the Avrocar would become unstable just a few feet off the ground.