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Model Aviation Guru George Parks is shown below with the flying sphere he
built in collaboration with aviation artist David Santos.
George selected a thick slow speed NASA airfoil for the RC prototype. The video
frame sequence was taken with a Pixel Vision camera set on the ground.
With George on radio control, Santos launched the aircraft and ran to
pick up the camera. The fifth flight is shown.
The overall impression of the Flying Sphere design is that it flies about as well as conventional designs. It has interesting structural and aerodynamic qualities due to its relative absence of wingtip vortices, spread mass, and a peculiar "rolling ball" landing style.
 At left is the wreckage from an early crash. The center photo, by Karen Pitman, shows the repaired aircraft. At right are various small prototypes by Santos. One version, a sort of "pendulum kite" on a monofiliment and bamboo pole was a mind bender at Austin raves in the late eighties. This project was one of several designed by David Santos to demonstrate far fetched concepts. Others were a boat that sails directly into the wind, a rain powered vehicle, the ProtoAndroid, and a flapping wing flying machine, Bipedal Onithopter, that runs on legs to take off. |
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