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QZ’ SK “ay 20 US patent for the Uni-plane filed in August 1931. Conceived by Richard Johnson, it flew on several occasions during the 1930s but the design was flawed from the outset. US Patent Office doned the idea of using a lift fan because existing engines had insufficient power to make the idea workable. Therefore he re- configured his concept to a circular wing- shaped aircraft and in August 1931 filed a US patent (1,887411) for the design. Having called his new proposal the Uni-plane, John- son started looking around for financial sup- port to build it. But these were hard times in America and he was unable to find the nec- essary backing. After an intense effort, John- son managed to raise about $1,000 for his venture and construction of a prototype began in the garage of his parent’s home in Chicago. The aircraft was 16ft 6in (5m) in length, with a 14ft (4.26m) span. The 3ft (914mm) thick wing was built around a Church mono- plane fuselage and Johnson altered his origi- nal design to accommodate two tailfins and fitted an elevator between them. A forward- mounted compact 41hp (30.5kW) Church Marathon J-3 four-cylinder piston engine was used to drive a two-blade propeller and the aircraft's final gross weight was 650Ib (295kg). Uni-plane’s undercarriage was fixed, comprising two forward wheels and one smaller tailwheel, and there was enough additional room in the cockpit for one pas- senger. Before the aircraft flew however, Johnson rather foolishly decided to start the engine inside the garage. This was a really bad idea because the throttle jammed wide open, which made for a very dangerous situ- ation. As the aircraft began to move it was damaged and the whole episode could have very easily ended in tragedy. During the Autumn of 1934, Johnson moved his aircraft to Stinson Airport, where he made approximately two hundred very short ‘straight line’ flights, which in some cases were little more that lift-offs lasting for just a couple of seconds. He finally managed to make two circuits of the airport but both resulted in very hard landings, causing dam- age to the aircraft and various minor injuries to Johnson. He had been hoping to earn some money by using Uni-plane for advertising pur- poses, but the two accidents put a swift end to that idea. Although Johnson made a number of alter- ations to the control surfaces, he finally ditched the twin tailfin arrangement, settling for a single fin, which was the way the Uni- plane had originally been designed. He then Secret Projects: Flying Saucer Aircraft