Frost continued to lobby for the project now called the Project Y-2
and achieved a remarkable breakthrough by demonstrating the project to
the United States Air Force in 1954.With funding from the both the
U.S.A.F. and later the U.S. Army, Frost proceeded with his design. From
1955 to1959, the design team concentrated on the new VZ-9AV "Avrocar"
as a "proof of concept" vehicle for a concurrent supersonic fighter
development program first known as Project 1794 and later Weapon System
606A. An Avro- funded project of similar capability known as the
P.V.704 was also initiated in 1957 as a means to speed up development
of the supersonic programs.
As a part of the USAF Weapons Systems 606A project which was the
final derivative of a series of USAF-funded VTOL projects, the Avrocar
acted as a proof-of-concept vehicle. To satisfy the later sponsoring
body, the U.S. Army, in its requirements for a "Flying Jeep", the
VZ-9AV acted a prototype for an upcoming series of vehicles known as
The VZ-9AV Avrocar research vehicle used three Continental J-69's1025
lbs, thrust (licence-built Turbomeca Marboré) turbojets, turning a
central impeller ("turbo rotor") to keep it airborne with downward
thrust, with a vane/shutter system to propel the craft in any direction
by venting thrust in the direction the pilot desired. A pilot and
observer sat in separate cockpits on either side of the disc, facing
forward. The total diameter of the Avrocar was 6.2 m., with wheels and
later tricycle landing pads for an undercarriage.
After completing a wooden mock-up in 1957-58, two Avrocar prototypes
were constructed, the first, S/N #58-7055 in FY 1958 and the second,
S/N #59-4975 in FY1959. The first prototype completed a series of wind
tunnel tests at NASA Ames in California and the second vehicle
undertook a test flying program based at the Malton, Ontario home of
Avro Canada. Between June 9 and October 7,1959, the first vehicle
underwent a thirty-two-hour static rig test at Avro in Malton, Ontario.
This prototype was then sent to the NASA Ames wind tunnel for
full-scale wind tunnel tests commencing in April 1960. A second round
of wind tunnel testing commenced in April 1961. Rare film footage
exists of the Avrocar project which includes design and construction of
both aircraft, wind tunnel tests, and many of the tethered and free
flight tests. The first free-flight test, conducted on the second
vehicle, occurred on November 12, 1959 with company test pilot "Spud"
Potocki at the helm, with additional tests made in January 1960 and in
the period July 1960- June 1961 for a total of approximately 75 hours.
The final flight test program was completed by USAF Project pilot,
Major Walter J. Hodgson; additional flights had been made in March 1960
by NASA Ames test pilot, Fred J. Drinkwater III.
The results of the testing revealed a stability problem and degraded
performance due to turbo-rotor tolerances. Before modifications could
be achieved, funding ran out with the final flight test program
completed in March 1961. With the problems that the contractor was
facing in the wake of the cancellation of its premier fighter program,
the Avro CF-105 Arrow by the Canadian government, Avro Canada was
unable to continue the project on its own. In late 1960, Avro had
redesigned the VZ-9AV Avrocar with a pair of J-85 turbojets, a larger
turborotor of improved performance and a wing/tailet configuration
married to the central disc platform. Although this proposal may have
solved the Avrocar's deficiencies in stabilization and performance, the
U.S. military felt that the aircraft even in a revamped form did not
merit continued development. In December 1961, the Avrocar and related
VTOL programs were officially completed as the U.S. military rejected
new company redesigns and halted any further research efforts. The
Avrocar had been the last aviation program of Avro Canada.
The parent company, A. V. Roe Canada, which had been in throes of
disintegration for years ceased to exist on April 30, 1962 .
Both Avrocars are still intact, and survive in U.S. museums. The U.S.
Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, Virginia received the second
Avrocar, the "flying" prototype, #59-4975 from the U.S. Army
Aviation Materials Laboratories at Fort Eustis, Virginia in 1979. It
is presently on pylon display at an entranceway to the museum.
The first Avrocar, S/N #58-7055, the unmanned test rig and wind
tunnel test vehicle marked as AV-7055 was never flown. It was shipped
to the NASA Ames Research Center wind tunnel at Moffett Field,
California in 1960. After wind tunnel testing, it remained for years
in storage at the NASA facility before being donated to the National
Air and Space Museum in 1966. AV-7055 is stored in Building 22 of the
NASM Paul E. Garber storage and restoration Facility, in Silver Hills
Today, the unrestored Avrocars or "flying saucers" as they are
referred to at both the NASM and U.S. Army Transportation Museum are
mainly neglected and relegated to objects of historical curiosity or