Joe replied:
In the late 1970s the Van Dusen Development Company built a
subscale prototype rigid airship which rotated to produce lift
via the Magnus effect. They never built a full scale vehicle.
Well, Joe, now that you mention it, there was a full scale model that did
fly. I had forgotten about that. It was called the CycloCrane and used
helium to obtain neutral buoyancy then rotated using the Magnus Effect for
lift. During the experiments, it was stored in the old blimp hangers at
Tillamook, Oregon. I recall the last flight was in about 1991 when it broke
up.
So, there was an aircraft that used the Magnus Effect - sort of.
Colin N12HS
---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (
http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.775 / Virus Database: 522 - Release Date: 10/8/04