Project 1794/WS 606A, a/k/a The Avrocar: the U.S.-made UFO

By Jack Brummet, Alien Lore/UFO Ed.

The Avrocar in storage at the Smithsonian Institution in 1984. 

Project Project 1794/WS 606A, a/k/a The Avrocar, never really went anywhere or got past its early test phases.  In the end, it ended up being a hovercar proptotype.

The test models suffered from dangerous oil leaks that resulted in three fires, and eventually the staff were afraid of the machine, even when they were safely nestled in an observation booth of bullet-proof glass and quarter-inch-thick steel.   A final, and disastrous engine test in 1956 involved a Viper jet engine "running wild" and convinced the agencies involved that a less dangerous test vehicle was necessary.

A second Avrocar logged about 75 flight hours, but was also a failure; it couldn't lift itself safely more than a few feet off the ground, and its bulbous design  caused unbearable heat and screaming exhaust noise, which made it impractical for the military.  One person pointed out that, although it was a technical failure, its design was a rubber water skirt shy of being the world's first hovercraft, 

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