* Some (ground) engineers have created a flying saucer that is fully operational.
* The disc-shaped prototype has a diameter of 1.2 meters and can perform vertical takeoff and landing smoothly according to the latest tests performed.
If seen from afar it will appear to be a UFO, but it is actually an identified flying object.
It is a flying saucer created by two Romanian engineers who have spent two decades researching how to make a saucer-shaped object capable of taking flight and moving through the air.
The Romanian creators of ADIFO or All Directional Flying Object say that it can work as a quadcopter at low speeds and at high speed. He doubles as a super-efficient, supersonic jet-powered aircraft with his entire body functioning as a low-speed aircraft.
ADIFO was designed to provide unmatched aerial agility at various speeds.
According to inventor Razvan Sabie, ADIFO has been designed “to change the actual paradigm of flight.”
Sabie worked in collaboration with famed aerodynamicist Losif Taposu (senior scientist at the Romani National Aerospace Research Institute and former head of theoretical aerodynamics at the National Aviation Institute) to develop the concept.
Sabie has already built a working prototype with a diameter of 1.2 meters and is all set for testing.
Sabie insists that the saucer shape is not a whim, but based on years of hundreds of pages of aerodynamic studies, computer simulations and wind tunnels.
Its four main engines establish a quadcopter-like operation, with VTOL capability and low-speed maneuvering. To them are added two turbines (for the moment, electric fans) with independent vectors at the rear (responsible for providing horizontal propulsion), and four maneuvering nozzles (two on each side).
The end result is a craft that can move side to side in any direction the pilot wants, and rotate at high speed in mid-flight.
The hypothesis suggests that the shape of the saucer reduces shock waves on its surface, and enables a much smoother transition from subsonic to supersonic flight. In other words, ADIFO promises to eliminate the sonic boom.
What is next now? More advanced simulations, additional tests in wind tunnels, the development of the control system for supersonic flight… and logically, looking for partners. Without good third-party support (both public and private), ADIFO will be nothing more than a saucer-drone, but we hope it succeeds.
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