Avrocar, Canada's Flying Saucer: The Story of Avro Canada's Secret Projects

Patricia A. Myers is a historian at the Historic Sites and Archives
Service, Alberta Community Development, and the author of Sky Riders: An
Illustrated History of Aviation in Alberta, 1906–1945.

As stated in the subtitle, this is “the story of Avro Canada’s
secret projects.” And what a story it is—spaceships, flying saucers,
aliens, and an unassuming building at Toronto’s airport.

Zuk starts with a quick summary of Avro’s development as a company,
stressing its engineering and research arms, and profiling its
accomplishments. The sad Arrow story gets retold.

However, increased sightings and fears of flying saucers in the late
1940s led some members of the aeronautical industry to examine the
possibilities of this type of flight. At Avro, John Frost, who headed
the Special Projects Group, put together a team of engineers and
draftsmen to look at unconventional aircraft designs, and they worked,
as one member of the group recalled, behind locked, guarded doors. Zuk
goes on to relate the fabulous story of the research, development, and
testing of the Avrocar, its aeronautical engineering challenges, and
American involvement in the project. In December 1961, $7.5 million
(U.S.) having been expended, the project was canceled.

Filled with good illustrations, and written in a clear, engaging style,
Avrocar, Canada’s Flying Saucer provides a fascinating look at a
little-known part of Canada’s aviation history. Zuk researched widely
and conducted many interviews with the players of the time. He includes
profiles of some of the main players, and interesting timelines to
summarize some of the salient elements of the story, such as the
vertical takeoff and landing timeline. He provides background on
relevant topics, such as the general history of unconventional aircraft,
and brings the story up to date with more current research directions.

Zuk ends with a plea to the Canadian heritage community. The two test
Avrocars developed are still intact, he says, and survive in U.S.
museums. He wants to bring them home. This fine publication may just
help do that.