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Anorak News | Spy In The Sky

Spy In The Sky

by | 20th, January 2006

‘GIVEN the vast sums of money spent on buying and selling weapons and war machines, the Sun may have erred in publishing the address of where British inventor Geoff Hatton keeps his new flying machine.

As the Sun’s advertorial-style blurb boasts: “The ultra-manoeuvrable craft, which can hover and turn in tight corners, could also be used in the examination of bridges and minefields.”

No government in its right mind would not want to get hold of such a device. You can forget weapons of mass destruction, nuclear bombs and anything else currently available in the Acme Weapons catalogue, and know that this is the future of warfare.

And the even better thing about it is that it looks like a flying saucer. It’s both useful and cool. “As far as we know this is the only flying saucer of its kind in the world and there could be any number of uses,” says Geoff excitedly

And Geoff is not without ambition. Though the craft is small and unmanned, Geoff plans to have built a manned flying version by 2008.

This is terrific stuff. The bulldog spirit of daring and innovation that gave us the Spitfire, the bouncing bomb and red routes lives on in Geoff.

But if you can’t wait to get your hands on the must-have weapon/toy of Christmas 2008, the Sun gives its readers a few clues to how you can build your own.

Geoff employed the Coanda effect, named after the Romanian engineer Henry-Marie Coanda. This states that “a stream of air blown over a curved surface will ‘stick’ to it – making the air pressure under the object lighter”. Get it right and the saucer will lift.

Alternatively, you could just pop along to Geoff’s “tiny shed-like workshop” in Star Road, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. And make him an offer he can’t refuse…’



Posted: 20th, January 2006 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink