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referred to as ‘Fluid Sustained and Fluid Sup- ported Aircraft’. In 1967 the West German Dornier Aviation Company took over the development of Lippisch’s Aerodyne, hoping to utilise the concept for an unmanned drone. This project led to the construction of a vehi- cle known as the El, which was successfully test flown in late 1972 although nothing came of the project. Zborowski’'s team had followed a broadly similar path to Lippisch, working on a series of ducted fan designs that were identified by the names of beetles. Their proposals ranged from the Hannerton (Cockchafer Beetle), which was a single-seat design propelled by two enclosed contra-rotating propellers, to the much larger Lucane (Stag Beetle) VTOL light transport aircraft with swivelling ducted fan propulsion. However, they were primarily interested in the military market and the bureau focused their attention on proposals like the Bruche (Beetle), which was a very compact VTOL supersonic ground-attack air- craft with many features that would find their way into the later SNECMA C.450. At the beginning of the 1950s Zborowski travelled to Paris, where he approached senior management at the nationally owned French engine manufacturer Société Nationale d’Etude et Construction de Moteurs d’Aviation (SNECMA) with VTOL proposals put together by his team. SNECMA’s execu- tives immediately recognised the potential of BTZ’s preliminary studies and agreed to fund further development. Zborowski then opened an office at Brunoy in France using the full name Société Anonyme Bureau Tech- Fans and Ducts GIIMMOS AAS} Ni WGP = NIG if SS =r KX a 141 Right: Lippisch design for ducted fan annular- winged aircraft. US Patent Office Below: Early Lippisch design for ducted fan, fluid supported aircraft. US Patent Office Below right: Lippisch design for ducted fan annular-winged aircraft. Bill Rose