Air Transport

A six-week outdoor flight-test programme with a 0.91m (3ft)-diameter, 5.45kg (12lb) unmanned air vehicle has begun in the UK to determine the craft’s ability to cope with wind gusts. The flying saucer-shaped UAV uses the Coanda effect to generate lift.

The GFS-7 remote-controlled, battery-powered test vehicle is made of plywood and propelled by a car radiator fan. It has an endurance of 2-3min. Its inventor, former hovercraft engineer Geoff Hatton, is offering the patented UAV concept for military reconnaissance.

Hatton’s company, Geoff’s Flying Saucer (GFS) Projects, based in Peterborough, UK, was visited in January by US military research officials. “We are putting together an internal combustion engine design so we can lift useful payload. It will be called GSF-11. We are also working on fan design,” he says. Hatton says a more efficient design, with a longer endurance, could be achieved by matching an improved fan with an internal combustion engine. The work has been aided by the University of Cambridge’s department of engineering.

ROB COPPINGER / LONDON