12 crazy airplanes that look straight out of science fiction

A flying platform, the Aerocycle was commissioned by the US Army as a reconnaissance tool and first tested at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in 1955. It was designed to fly up to 70 miles per hour and only require 20 minutes of instruction before a soldier could use it. But the platform proved too accident-prone during the initial test flights, and the project was abandoned.

Students at Miami University built a prototype of the strange-looking aircraft, which was designed by inventor Steven Nemeth, to demonstrate that a circular wing could be used to fly a plane effectively. The round wing also doubled as a parachute if the engine stalled, allowing the plane to float softly down to the ground. Despite a successful test flight in 1934, the Nemeth was never mass produced.

No, this isn't a flying saucer or spaceship from Star Wars. The Avrocar was developed by the Canadian government in the early '50s as a fighter bomber. To take off vertically from the ground, the turbojet engines directed thrust downwards, creating a cushion of air. The US Army and Air Force took over the project in 1958 and developed two prototypes, but the plane proved unstable in aerodynamic tests. The project was canceled it in 1961, and the two prototypes now sit in the US Army Transportation Museum and the National Museum of the US Air Force.

Designed by Italian aircraft designer Gianni Caproni, the floating plane was intended to be a flying boat. It had nine wings and eight engines, was three stories tall, and could hold 100 passengers. If you think it looks unstable, you’re right — the aircraft crashed on its first test flight in 1921. The pilot survived, but the necessary repairs to the prototype proved too costly.

Nicknamed the “flying pancake,” the round, flat plane was designed by Charles Zimmerman to deploy from tankers and ships during World War II and defend against Japanese attacks. Chance Vought built and flew the plane, but no other versions were ever made. The Navy donated it to the National Air and Space Museum in 1960, and a Vought executive saw the aircraft still awaiting restoration on a tour in 2002. A group of retired Vought employees got together and worked for eight years to restore the plane, which was unveiled in 2012.

During World War II, the US Army Air Corps issued a request for an aircraft that could fly 10,000 miles and carry 10,000 pounds of cargo (most likely bombs). The flying wing bomber was developed by aircraft designer Jack Northrop, founder of the Northrop Corporation, but problems with the propellers caused it to be unstable. The war ended before development was complete and the program was canceled in 1950.

The smallest jet-propelled fighter plane ever built, the Goblin was designed to be attached to a bomber plane and launched to protect its host ship in the case of an attack. The Goblin flew well, but it had no landing gear of its own, so had to be reattached to its host. Pilots had trouble reconnecting the Goblin to to the bomber planes while in flight, so the test program was canceled in 1949.

Built to transport oversized cargo for NASA’s Apollo program, the enormous aircraft was first tested in 1962. It was primarily used to shuttle parts of the Saturn 5 rockets to Cape Canaveral. Later incarnations were called the Super Guppy and Super Guppy Turbine, and have transported components of the International Space Station from manufacturers around the globe.

The Soviet Union intended the amphibious plane to be a defense against US submarines during the Cold War. Italian scientist Robert Bartini designed it to skim the ocean surface in order to monitor underwater targets. Only two prototypes were built; the first was tested in September, 1972 (without its aquatic pontoons). The only one that remains now resides at the Russian Air Force Museum in Monino.

Aerospace engineer Burt Rutan designed the Boomerang in 1996 as a high-performance aircraft that could be easily controlled if one engine were to fail. It’s asymmetry sets it apart from other twin aircrafts, and makes it safer in the face of technical difficulties. The Boomerang can travel up to 304 miles per hour.

Like the Boomerang, the Proteus was also designed by Burt Rutan. It’s made to function as a telecommunications relay system — it carries an antenna system for relaying broadband data. The first test flights began in 1998, and in 2000, the Proteus set three world records for high-altitude flight (it hit a peak altitude of 63,245 feet).

Lockheed Martin’s P-791 was flown in 2006 to demonstrate the company’s Hybrid Airship technology. The helium-filled airships are cargo carriers that are designed to deliver goods to remote locations. They can land on the ground or on water, and burn only one tenth of the fuel per ton required for helicopters. The company landed its first production contract — worth an estimated $480 million — with Straightline Aviation in March.