From Rory Bowskill
The “new” spacecraft (“Rocket revolutionary”, 1 August, p 24) appears to be a
full-size development of a design from the 1950s for a model powered by Jetex
motors, published by Aeromodeller magazine.
It has the main features in common: propulsion and lift by means of multiple
engines set at an angle around a disc, descent controlled by rotating blades and
a cheap, reusable structure.
In this earlier design there were only two motors mounted on the rim of the
rotor blades—making a de facto disc—and, as it was not designed to
exit and reenter the atmosphere, this worked satisfactorily for the model.
It is interesting that the principle has been developed to a point where it
might be used for a full-size craft.
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R.A.Bowskill@uea.ac.uk
