by rsfuhrer

The Avrocar was an experimental VTOL prototype designed by Avro Canada in the late 1950s for eventual use by the US Military.

Unable to meet most of the design goals and extremely unstable outside of the ground effect, this project was retired in 1961.

Two protoypes existed and were modified throughout the lifecycle of the project, resulting in several different external profiles. Several versions are included in this "Thing" for the luxury of choice (or a burden of indecision...)

Later life of the prototypes included NASA Windtunnel test article and both test articles are now in the hands of museums in the US.

Print Settings

Printer Brand:                          

Prusa

Printer:                          

i3 MK2.5

Rafts:                          

Doesn't Matter

Supports:                          

Yes

Resolution:                          

0.15

Infill:                          

Yes

Filament:                                            N/A PLA                                                                                

Notes:

As the size of the STL is quite small due to the ft => mm conversion, I plan on printing the STL at 500x size to give a final model scale of 1:61 to match the Avro Arrow I designed and printed. I intend on printing it at an angle of 55 degrees to reduce layer steps along the topside of the saucer.

How I Designed This

I designed this model in Fusion 360 for the following reasons:
-I couldn’t find any Avrocar models online for free
-I had already designed the Avro Arrow and the Canuck model and figured I'm already most of the way down this road

I used the Sculpting environment in Fusion360 for the pilot domes, but I mostly used sketches, revolves, and extrudes for this model. I based the model on some drawings of the Avrocar and several images. Some of the drawings were used as canvases in Fusion for reference.

Any great plane/flying saucer deserves to be displayed and I modeled a lovely display stand to go with the model for just this purpose! The stand model is an equilateral triangle shape with three bumps to set the model on top of. The text "USAF VZ-9 Avrocar" appears on all three sides.

This flying saucer was modeled in Fusion360 in feet with a diameter of 18ft. The STL often is imported with a wingtip distance of 18mm. This gives a scale of ~1:305, but feel free to scale it as you want! The STLs are exported in Fusion 360’s highest fidelity so you shouldn’t lose any detail by making it bigger.