The Flying Saucer Designed To Ram Soviet Bombers | Avro Canada Silver Bug

[@RexsHangar]

F.A.Q Section - Ask your questions here :) Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: How do you decide what aircraft gets covered next? A: Supporters over on Patreon now get to vote on upcoming topics such as overviews, special videos, and deep dives. Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both.

[@mariusmglestue1234]

I’ve suggested it before, but this time I’m early. Would you consider doing a video on the Dornier Wal?

[@BrianTheGreenMan]

Avro Arrow?

[@FinnDMG]

Is another "Top 10 ugliest aircrafts from [insert country name here]" planed? Would love to see one about germany

[@scottgiles7546]

Based on this piece, perhaps a story on drug use in Canada in the early 50's?

[@theinfernollama8564]

Could you do a video about the Bloch MB.162 or The Koolhoven F.K.58? They look like interesting aircraft.

[@mbryson2899]

Those performance numbers (mach 2.7, 90,000 foot ceiling, etc.) remind me of the last time I talked with a retirement investment broker.

[@drstevenrey]

This was another master piece that can be summarized by one of your own signature quotes: 'I wish I was making that up' Thanks Rex and see you next year. Can't wait.

[@kaylzshter6153]

Anti Soviet Frisbee of Death is a phrase I never knew I needed to hear, until I did. Fantastic video Rex!

[@waynesworldofsci-tech]

I used to live in Malton, only 300 metres from the old AVRO factory, and a couple of the locals remembered seeing the Avrocar. They had some really interesting ideas, emphasis on interesting.

[@adenkyramud5005]

Interesting... that's one way to say it. Another would be crack induced😂

[@nikolaideianov5092]

​@@adenkyramud5005just like keltech they like to spend 50% of the money for crack

[@BeingFireRetardant]

It is at WPAFB museum. Surprisingly tiny. Very shiny. Barely flyey.

[@jmi5969]

@@adenkyramud5005 That was my first idea, but then I changed it in favour of mushrooms.

[@hadleymanmusic]

Avro car was a public fluke. Go research avro, They got the real deals

[@parrotraiser6541]

A fascinating illustration of what happens when you combine science fiction, a huge, undisciplined flow of money, and a bunch of engineers unencumbered by adult supervision.

[@dexlab7539]

…and hubris, and having the Military in charge of everything

[@MonkeyJedi99]

The whole time my brain was playing The Incredibles soundtrack.

[@dragonbutt]

A fascinating illustration of 1950s canada

[@ravenoferin500]

​@@MonkeyJedi99I wonder if there was inspiration or they were just also trying to think like a megalomanic.

[@fredd3.14]

and drugs

[@vibeslide]

Even by cold war standards this idea is insane.

[@JZsBFF]

Very true but it's also the stuff of great scifi movies where physics is... optional.

[@tropicthndr]

Amazing how they think this goofy thing with so many design flaws would be considered top secret, now we know what top secret really means, “over budget beyond the stratosphere” but let’s spend more money on it anyway. NASA’s current design philosophy, which is why Elon’s space program is sprinting ahead so rapidly.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

At least it’s not a nuclear powered cruise missile/bomber with radioactive exhaust.

[@JZsBFF]

@@chemistryofquestionablequa6252 Ah, and who doesn't remember those "Atoms For Peace" times?

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

@@JZsBFF I love the old informational videos from the military and chemical industry from that time period. Everything was so hopeful and completely unconcerned about safety at the same time. It’s a unique mindset.

[@firstcynic92]

I take it that sanity was not a requirement in Frost's job description, nor for the CAF and USAF personnel reviewing his work.

[@grahambuckerfield4640]

After some projects were canceled at Avro Canada, Frost with other engineers went to work in the US, including Frost at NASA. Clearly the links he made as described in this video worked out, he was to become a flight controller in the space program, if you watch the limited series released in 1998, From The Earth To The Moon, when Neil Armstrong and David Scott faced a serious emergency on Gemini 8, the actor depicted as flight controller at Houston, does not have an American accent. The show was accurate, it was John Frost who ran the effort to get them back.

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

The cold war was wild

[@NikeaTiber]

I think the best inventors tend to have a streak of insanity. The trick is teaming them up with other engineers that don't outright veto their ideas, but can collaborate to inject some practicality into the project.

[@ronhudson3730]

Unparalleled aviation development from ‘45 to ‘55. Lots of interesting ideas that looked good on paper but didn’t come to fruition, this being one of them. Remember, the combination of almost limitless American money, combined with the post-war optimism I remember so clearly from my childhood days, fuelled by the very real threat of Soviet bombers appearing overhead, made projects like this possible. From nothing to a man on t(e moon in less than 19 years… Anything seemed possible - until it wasn’t.

[@Ranstone]

All great dreams sound foolish on paper to the next generation, unless they were completed. Had we not landed on the moon, people nowadays would say it was impossible, and ridiculous. This is also inspiring to me, because I tend to reach for the stars and dream big. If a dream isn't crazy, it's not big enough.

[@ma9x795]

For an aircraft that relied so heavily on the serviceability of its engines to remain controllable / airborne, the Viper is a rather curious choice of powerplant as it was originally designed as a single use engine to power Jindivic target drones. Obviously it was later beaten into shape and its early prolonged-use maintenance issues were resolved, as it went on to power the BAC Jet Provost, and with another compressor stage added, the HS Dominie.

[@eyerollthereforeiam1709]

Wow, even for Canadians that's quite insane!

[@tombogan03884]

Not really. It's shaped like a hockey puck. 😆😁

[@eyerollthereforeiam1709]

@@tombogan03884 maybe they should have had it spray maple syrup into the enemy bombers engines...

[@All2Meme]

@@tombogan03884 Maybe they could use an enormous hockey stick to launch it?

[@eyerollthereforeiam1709]

@@All2Meme I was thinking of making a slingshot. A truck tire inner tube stretched between two oak trees.

[@joedingo7022]

@@eyerollthereforeiam1709 ah, but then they would need to make it run on maple syrup, as there wasn't fuel space to spare

[@samborambobo]

That first boat you showed at the beginning of the video, what a masterpiece!

[@samuelruetz5175]

The paint job and general hull form would suggest it's some form of Tailspin fanart. If you're unfamiliar with that, it's Disney's answer to the question "what if several characters from the Jungle Book starred in a deiselpunk 30s style adventure serial?"

[@Katy_Jones]

I find the lack of death rays disturbing.

[@dragonbutt]

Knowing canada at the time, they probably had one drawn up but it was too expensive because it ran on moon rocks.

[@doge_sevens]

@@dragonbutt shhhhhh stop revealing our secrets

[@iplaymytele]

😹😹😹😹😹👍🏻

[@LaMarcheFutilé101]

The pilot sitting in the middle of this thing, _completely_ surrounded by jet fuel, trying to ram enemy aircraft. Jesus christ.

[@MrHws5mp]

That was far from being the only ramming aircraft suggested. One of the Northrop flying wings was intended as a ram fighter as were lots of German WWII proposals. There were some examples of non-suicidal ramming attacks during WWII. Probably the most famous is the Hurricane pilot who, out of ammo and seeing a Do 17 heading for Buckingham Palace, put his wing through the Dornier's notably slim rear fuselage, cutting the tail end of it off completely. There is cine footage, taken from the ground, of the tail unit sycamour-leafing it's way to earth. The Hurricane remained flyable for a while after the collision, but unfortunately it was one of the early fabric-wing ones and air flowing in through the damaged leading edge eventually ripped the fabric to the point where it became unflyable, and the pilot had to bale out.

[@bhumiriady]

This is one fascinating concept aircraft video, Rex!^^ I've heard of the Avrocar before, but your video made me aware of this flying saucer concept from Avro Canada.

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

As a kid I got to see the Avrocar in person as it was awaiting restoration in a U.S. Air and Space museum facility. I touched it and the guide was extremely upset with me.

[@frankrozee4690]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3fShIykqdt5jM0

[@mechaman7818]

These showed up in F-91 Gundam. They were still called BUGS. They even looked like the inner petal drawing of the disc at 4:35. Now that I look at it, the circular cockpit on that craft looks very similar to the domed cockpit Iron Mask sits in on the Rafflesia mobile armor.

[@grifter3680]

Woah, these look exactly like the flying saucers that chase Dash in the Incredibles (2004)!

[@dexlab7539]

Good eye!

[@makschorney2514]

They all look remarkably like the BMW WW2 projects of the late war period! Great Video!

[@papadopp3870]

I think they ARE the same. Winners get the spoils.

[@TheEvilpossum]

Have mentioned in another thread, a term I have come up with that covers both "flying saucers" and many flying wings is "Fat Wing", meaning a thick wing surface about as long as the craft, with resulting high resistance to stalling. From examples like the Chance Vought V-173 and Kalinin K-7, what we can see is that the true saucer had no advantages over a semi circular or elliptical design, and that all could work with propellers. It's also clear in hindsight that after Sikorsky came along, there was nothing these craft could do that a helicopter couldn't do better outside of less noise and better fuel economy.

[@frankrozee4690]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3fShIykqdt5jM0

[@plasmaburndeath]

TY for Covering the developments of the Secretly named 'Enterprise' NX-000.001 Alpha: Saucer Development.

[@Lensman864]

I enjoyed this one Rex (as always!); well done. Wishing you, from just up the road from the Duxford IWM, a productive, expansive and enjoyable 2024.

[@torchris1]

There’s a whole country waiting with baited breath for the Avro Canada Story! 🇨🇦

[@ccfmfg]

I used to work for Avrocar in Canada and spirited away the 1st 9961 silver Bug Prototype away before the Avrocar was bought out and dissolved. It's still in My garage. I only take it out a couple times a year to fly it to the local Dairy Queen for a Blizzard Shake. But You are absolutely right about the visibility not being the Greatest because of the center cockpit, but it is also a problem when going thru the Drive-Thru when You try to reach Your Order all the way over at the Window!

[@scrumpydrinker]

Drach’s cocaine laced rum seems to have had a much wider distribution than anyone had ever thought…

[@martijn9568]

Rex, April Fool's is still a couple of months away. In any case, I will be putting my tinfoil hat on. Just in case the CIA does come to my house to zapp me, with one of these, from the face of the earth.😂

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

Just over 3 months.

[@satagaming9144]

I believe the supply lines from Colombia to the drafting room were running quite well in the case of this design...

[@Double_Vision]

The shipments have been redirected to KelTec these days.

[@josephd.5524]

You have to admit, as an explanation for all the old UFO sightings from the 50s and 60s New Mexico-area, one-off almost-working prototypes of some of these really fit. There probably are some real interesting things in the underground hangars, just not extraterrestrial.

[@Ranstone]

And people who claimed to see these were called insane, same as people who claimed to see the stealth bomber, and even the Me 262. A harsh reminder of the narrowmindedness of both people who want to and don't want to believe in extraterrestrial craft. If someone wants to believe the US is hiding aliens, they'll see a hot air balloon and stake their life that it abducted them, probed them and killed the Easter bunny. And if we ever do, or even have recovered alien craft, there will always be some boomer to laugh and say "Impossible! ROFL! So stupid!" Humans are a funny bunch.

[@White_Recluse]

I had a feeling that all the UFO sightings were just experimental military aircraft, and the fact this just pretty much proves it

[@hckyplyr9285]

Know much about "Pyewacket" or the "lenticular defense missile"? It was a proposed defensive armament for the B-70 that would fly at hypersonic speeds and pull 100G that would similarly just bash into interceptors or SAMs. They did quite a bit of development work on it. Havent seen much on it on KZbin but i guess flying saucer shaped aircraft/missiles were all the rage back in the 50s.

[@andrewmacgregor8717]

The Frisbee of Death ☠️! Ohh, Canada, how could you?

[@JZsBFF]

Well, they were inspired by the nazis. So,... they could. The Ozzies planned on building a boomerang of death, allegedly. As for the Brits, everything they build is basically meant to die in.

[@DiegoPatriciodelHoyo]

Another great video, sort of Xmas gift. Thanks Rex, and wish you a prosperous 2024.

[@raymondyee2008]

Omg that display picture I saw that in an aviation magazine when I was young; crazy is an understatement.

[@billpostscratcher2025]

Pye Wacket was another 'flying saucer', a Mach 7 Lenticular Defense Missile for the B-70.

[@dragonbutt]

Ah yes, the death lentil

[@atomdent]

Frost reminds me of Rusty Venture,including the" directing " of officials. In fact the whole thing is very Venture Industrys,lol!!Thanks Rex!

[@viatcheslavshleniov21]

Thank you, you are making great content. Dc-3 and Dc-6 those beauties needs your attention.

[@mistformsquirrel]

I think we've found the line between genius and insanity and this guy kept hopping back and forth across it like a jump rope.

[@robbierobinson8819]

A fascinating video. Looking forward to watching more of your videos and enjoying your great narration in 2024. Thank you for the enlightenment and entertainment over the year.

[@oilguygamer1744]

Another Great one. Thanks. All the best for the festive season

[@marleegould542]

My instructor at Job Corps here in the US (for non Americans, it's a government run job training program) has pictures of her standing next to the Avro Aircar as a kid. Her dad worked at Avro at the time and took her out to see it.

[@thefuturist1867]

for half a second I though it would be about those Lenticular defensive missiles the valkyrie had

[@garymccammon6696]

The Pyewacket?

[@kittehgo]

I wonder if anything like it could be produced, with the technical knowledge and materials we have today 🤔

[@Jon6429]

There was some small drone prototypes kicking around in the late 90's using the coanda effect and computer assisted fly-by wire tech has found its way down to toy aircraft. So possibly, with a big enough power to weight ratio even a lawnmower can fly.

[@jamesengland7461]

The idea is just as stupid now as it was then

[@ericpode6095]

​@@Jon6429I've seen a "flying lawnmower"! It was a RC mock up but it looked quite convincing . 😊

[@dragonbutt]

@@Jon6429 Fly by wire would probably be the thing to make this idea work. It would need MANY computers. ALL OF THEM.

[@Will-hv9ns]

The thrust/lift generated by this sort of design is massively inferior to conventional designs. This is absolutely dead end development.

[@Ph03nix1]

Man that thing is the Ultimate Frisbee.

[@FandersonUfo]

love the maple leaf roundels

[@jonathan_60503]

Ah, the Avro Car - unexpected precursor to the hovercraft

[@arno-luyendijk4798]

I just love your colorful use of euphemisms and irony, Rex: Anti-soviet frisbee of death.......priceless!!!

[@armyman-ig7qs]

great videos been watching for long while now

[@carlwheezerofsouls3273]

this video summoned a mystical frog into my house that my two cats both didnt notice somehow, i had to get it outside carefully, wrapped the little guy up in a burrito of toilet paper so i didnt get my hands slimy, he actually chilled out after a second and was just vibing.

[@Dr.K.Wette_BE]

Nice in depth doc !

[@davidgenie-ci5zl]

10:30 Simular to the Flying Sub carried by the Sea View submarine in the 1960's TV show... Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

[@Marce159951]

Great video and channel! Happy New Year 🎉

[@anthonywalker4108]

Ramming a bomber at mach 2 thats some math to hit a soft bit a few feet wide and not a bomb or engine. Brave or mad?

[@jlvfr]

both?

[@drstevenrey]

It took some time, but I managed to calculate the deceleration that would have been encountered if ramming a Tupolew Tu-95 with this Frisbee of death. As you showed in the planned graphic. If you hit at 2000 mph you immediately, within 5 feet, lose 525 mph. Hence the forces suffered by the pilot is the same as hitting the ground at 525 mph. Simply put: You are dead on impact. Sure, the bomber is dead too, but what does that do for you. It is not relevant if your carcass continues after the hit with 1475 mph or not, your just dead. Splatted on the windscreen inside the cockpit. A veneer of red mist on the glass. They must have known this, or not. Yes, the damage will me mostly on the bomber, but the disc will take damage too. At this speed there will be instant welding happening.

[@aaronsakulich4889]

The despair in rex's voice when he says "alarming"....

[@leetheeagle7264]

So thats where the flying saucer concept came from.

[@ptonpc]

Happy New Year!

[@alm5992]

Just looking at the cross sections of this thing blows my mind! So many vents; it would have been a nightmare to clean!

[@RenoLaringo]

9:38 My stomach still hurts!😂 I love your videos !

[@Vatharian]

@3:26 - this is the coolest spaceship from 90s video game I've ever seen! But jokes aside, was there any possibility, that Silver Bug 1 and 2 could actually work as Frost envisioned? I have real trouble envisioning how the airflow would look and how VTOL would be achieved in both cases

[@OfficialUSKRprogram]

Imagine successfully spying on Area 51 in the 1950s as an American citizen and you see this thing

[@blu___1612]

all the bestfor the new year

[@ibluap]

Happy new year!

[@macbrown99]

I, for one, lament the absence of manned supersonic destructo-disks in my life.

[@papadopp3870]

There’s still time, mate!

[@toastysalmen4642]

well damn, I thought this was gonna be @Mustards new video not Rex's. either way happy surprise!.

[@sim.frischh9781]

Those, often outright bizarr, ideas of early aircraft pioneers are really fascinating to look back to as a lesson on what was tried and worked. Many of those strange ideas had great promises which they then sadly could no longer hold up to in practice. It´s almost sad that, while we now might have the technology to remedy their weaknesses from the technical limitations back then, in most cases we now have better solutions for the same goals or functions. But they make great inspiration for SciFi fighters! XD

[@noahortiz4738]

I find it funny that he doesn’t think people would willingly fly a plane into something else, because I can think of two pretty good examples of it

[@lord_scrubington]

kinda intersting that these designs were first imagined just before flying saucers were prominent in popular culture

[@themercer4972]

It must have been a wonderful time to be a Canadian when we had flying saucers of death.

[@lathelarson4009]

imagine being the test pilot, being briefed on what you will be testing..."you want me to ram what at mach2?"

[@itsjohndell]

Happy New Year Rex>

[@alexdemoya2119]

Intercontinental Flying Saucer Fantasies is my favorite funk band of the late 70s

[@alexandergustafsson4245]

Happy New Year Rex! :)

[@maryclarafjare]

Absolutely amazingly wild!!!!

[@Hybris51129]

Little did they know that their anti-communist Frisbee of death would be used by the Soviet Union's most powerful psychic... Yuri.

[@dbwindhorst1]

Perhaps not so much Tom Clancy as Tom Swift.

[@peterjohnson6273]

Always interesting. Thanks.

[@drksideofthewal]

“I can’t imagine a pilot volunteering-“ Let me stop you right there

[@The_diffman]

Keep going rex!!!

[@sasapetrovic1084]

Happy New Year

[@rjbartrop2]

The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada in Winnipeg has an Avrocar on display.

[@Olumin37]

Trying to make a flying saucer aeroplane is like trying to make a renaissance rapier in the stone age.

[@asdf9890]

That’s hilarious and scary that they thought it could survive, much less surgically remove a Soviet bomber by the tail…at those speeds.

[@benjaminbarrera214]

Just go for the vertical stabilizer, it worked against the XB-70 (unfortunately).

[@FumbleSquid]

Where on earth did they get that max speed estimate???? Did they just add up the thrust of all the engines or something? Cause I imagine there'd be A LOT of losses due to having your exhaust flow around in ducts before exiting. I bet nowadays with turbo fans you could get one of these to work. Idk about anywhere near mach tho lol

[@dragonbutt]

Postwar canadian optimism fueled estimates. As far as they were concerned at the time anything was possible. Even putting things into space with a giant cannon. Read up on Gerald Bull if you want more absolutely nutso canadian ideas lol

[@CanuckWolfman]

*"And, continuing the trend of designing weapons best suited for a Tom Clancy novel..."* Tom Clancy, hell. This man is related to Gerry Anderson. You cannot convince me otherwise.

[@Deviation4360]

No one has mentioned adverse gyroscopic forces of the giant anular disc compressor/turbine in full song. This would have severely limited maneuvrability. I reckon these projects were always a flimsy smoke screen for more exotic levity disc craft that was being worked on at deeper levels. Excellent plausable deniability.

[@jonathancollard7458]

Thank you for your videos. They are a highlight every time. Looking forward to every video and especially Canadian content. 😊 Very curious if there was ever a night fighter response by Japan to the B29 raids?

[@marckyle5895]

I want to believe, Rex

[@stevetournay6103]

😂😂😂

[@SephirothRyu]

Ah, a weapon for when the Canadians decide they are no longer sorry.

[@SVanHutten]

Ahh, that time when lenticular flying vehicles were in fashion: Pye Wacket, Sack AS-6, the Lenticular Re-Entry Vehicle and, of course, the AvroCar.

[@VintageWanderer]

You can wonder if someone tried this later on with better technology. Very interesting

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

*Rex: **_"Anti-Soviet Frisbee of Death"_* Genius...🤭

[@MenwithHill]

Any ramming-based military technology is top tier.

[@mkendallpk4321]

Me thinks that Mr. Frost saw flying saucers everywhere he looked.

[@fraserconnell21]

Anti soviet Frisbee of death !! Such a brilliant name. Much better than the snow-thingy. Great interesting film. 👍🏼

[@randalc6118]

Got to love those boys at Avro. It was a good company but too bad the Gov at the time sold out the company and county

[@TheNecromancer6666]

Coanda Effect: remember the Exhaust exits of 2012 F1 cars? Yes. Those.

[@hadleymanmusic]

Even the Arup S4 had a belly cam and a crt on the dash

[@MediumRareOpinions]

Somewhere out there is a Fallout 5 Developer who ought to be taking notes.

[@migueldelacruz4799]

Somebody loved the Jetsons.

[@zillsburyy1]

ROSWELL