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148 Lower left: SNECMA/BTZ concept for a high- performance manned or unmanned VTOL carrier aircraft using an annular wing with multiple engines and addition wingtip propulsion. Designed by Gerhard Eggers and Eric Haberkorn as a means of carrying secondary vehicles to very high altitudes. SNECMA Bottom left: SNECMA AP.519 Final non-annular wing VTOL fighter concept. Bill Rose, based on a SNECMA drawing Bottom right: The Focke-Wulf FW 860 VTOL interceptor proposal, developed alongside the SNECMA AP.519 as an alternative to the annular wing concepts. via Bill Rose authority on ducted fan design. He would eventually join Lockheed’s Skunk Works, tak- ing responsibility for development of the radar absorption materials used on the F-117A. In his 1964 patent Reichert envisaged a manned rocket-shaped vehicle with three tail fins spaced at 120°. A rotating ducted fan annular wing was located at the centre of the vehicle, which was capable of propelling the craft to Mach 3. The forward section of the design was a detachable upper stage that would carry a modest payload into orbit. Needless to say there were no takers for Reichert’s design. Left: SNECMA AP.507 Mach 3 weaponised successor to C.450. Bill Rose Secret Projects: Flying Saucer Aircraft