On April 26 1998, three Naval Research Laboratory engineers arrived at my home to verify the Geobat concept. (The Naval Research Laboratory is located in Washington D.C. and is a branch of the Department of Defense. They develop new ideas and technologies for military applications.).

After a short demonstration of the fueled and electric R.C. models, I then began a four hour conversation that verified every thing I had conceived relative to saucer shaped flight. It was obvious from this conversation that the NRL had experimented with saucer designs and had experienced the same problems that I had observed when I first started experimenting with circular wings.

The NRL representatives where initially interested in testing the Geobat concept for micro-air vehicle and R.C. reconnaissance configurations. They were also very interested in the stealth aspects of Geobat and Skyblade. After they reviewed my concepts and I explained the theory behind them, the conversation turned to the possibilities of full scale commercial and tactical military aircraft. It was their belief that Geobat represents the first genuinely new aircraft design to be invented in the last 40 years of aviation history.

Based on my conversation with the NRL engineers and my own experiments with circular designs, the following is considered to be a description of the problems relative to saucer aircraft design. (These examples relate to aircraft designs that attack the air for lift, not VTOL designs.).

Flying discs generally fall into two categories,
ring wings and solid discs.

 Solid discs are inherently unstable. Why is this?

This problem relates to the distribution of lift and the effect it has on the C.G.. Notice that the forward and rear halves of the wing have as much wing area as the left and right halves of the wing. This means that as the wing attacks the air, each quadrant receives approximately the same amount of pressure. This condition is similar to that of balancing a plate on your finger. Now, to create stability within this design, the center of gravity must be forward of the center of lift. This creates a condition that requires the C.G. to be moved progressively forward as higher speeds are achieved to keep the wing from flipping over. While higher speeds can be achieved by creating this C.G. arrangement, it results in a very nose -heavy condition during “power off” flight. To make the disc glide, substantial amounts of positive elevator must be applied to keep the disc level. In effect, the C.G. for a low speed configuration is not the same for a high speed design. The end result is a wing with inferior flying characteristics when compared to conventional aircraft.

Ring wings are more stable than solid discs. Why is this?

The center of lift is surrounded by lifting surfaces. While the “center of lift” is still in the center of the ring, pressure is applied about the lateral extremities of the ring. This creates a much more stable configuration. Using the finger balancing example presented earlier, you now can balance the wing about the “center of lift” using two fingers. While this is a much more desirable effect, the ring wing still has equal amounts of wing area distributed about the four quadrants. When was the last time you saw an aerobatic aircraft with a forward wing as large as the rear wing? The vast majority of aircraft designs have a large forward wing and a small rear wing called the elevator. While there are designs with canards, this is simply the reverse of conventional designs. In effect, the aircraft needs a practical way to maintain balance as it attacks the air.

The Geobat wing overcomes the limitations of solid disc and ring designs.

There are two distinct design features that separate Geobat from the prior art. Both of these design elements relate to the longitudinal penetration of the air of the circular form and the pressures applied to the wing as it attacks the air.

#1. By respecting the longitudinal flow of air over the ring wing concept, the ring wing is naturally split into three wings, thereby creating a forward wing, a rear wing, and wing tips that structurally connect the forward and rear wings.

Some of the advantages of the Geobat design are:

The diameter is slightly increased which translates into longer lateral extension of the wing, thereby enhancing aileron control. This slightly larger diameter also provides more longitudinal length which allows for a cockpit with a pusher/propeller configuration, such that the propeller thrust is in close proximity to and is forced directly over the rudder and elevator control surfaces.The vertical stabilizers help direct the propeller thrust over these trailing edge control surfaces while simultaneously preventing the propeller thrust from disturbing the air flow over the outside areas of the rear wing. The inside areas of the wing tip sections, which are the longest longitudinal wing cambers, are located about the lateral extremities of the design. This configuration enhances stability because a substantial amount of lift is produced about the wing tips. The large central opening allows ailerons to be positioned both for and aft of the lateral axis, thereby maximizing the air deflection possible. This configuration produces an impressive roll rate because the angle of the forward ailerons directs and compresses the air that is received by the rear ailerons, thereby enhancing their effectiveness. In that the model version requires no cockpit, the forward ailerons are easily extended centrally, such that they are directly behind the propeller, thus creating additional aileron control. Geobat also presents a perfectly circular edge. While this is considered to be an aesthetic feature (this also is a naturally stealthy shape), Geobat is the first perfectly circular aircraft capable of performing the same aerobatic maneuvers typically associated with high performance aircraft!!