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Right: Schematic showing the principal design features of the later Coanda lenticular vehicle. US Patent Office nia, becoming Director of the Institute for Sci- entific and Technical Creation, and he died in Bucharest on 25th November 1972. During his lifetime Coanda was responsible for many significant advances in aeronautics, which would place him amongst the pioneers of avi- ation. As a sign of respect in Romania, Bucharest’s International Airport has been named after him. Zimmerman’s Flying Pancake While studying electrical engineering and basic aeronautics at the University of Kansas during the late 1920s, Charles Horton Zim- merman (1907-1996) became involved with wind tunnel development for NACA. Working on a new open-throat wind tunnel for the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Zimmerman’s proposals finally earned him a full-time job with the Agency in 1929. Once this new state-of-the-art Vertical Wind Tunnel was in operation, Zimmerman was assigned to the development of two much larger wind tunnels, which were funded during 1933 and completed in early 1935. Zimmerman also found enough spare time to design an advanced aircraft during this period. He was undoubtedly encouraged by the work undertaken by Cloyd Snyder and two lesser-known Chicago-based inventors, Steven Nemeth and Richard Johnson, who designed, built and flew small circular- winged aircraft during the early 1930s. Zim- merman wanted to take their ideas a stage further and he envisaged a near-circular low aspect ratio shape that would fly faster and higher than any other aircraft, while retaining the ability to hover like a helicopter. Although the limitations of internal combustion engines made this idea virtually impossible, Zimmerman still received a prestigious NACA award for his creative concept. With the assistance of Richard Noyes and John McKeller, Zimmerman continued to refine his unusual semi-circular winged ideas and completed a small aircraft, although it never flew because of engine problems. Per- haps this was for the best because many con- sidered his contraption rather dangerous. Nevertheless, in 1936 he was able to prove that the concept worked, using nothing more 23 Below right: Operating features of Coanda’s revised design for the lenticular vehicle. US Patent Office Bottom right: Planform drawing of the later Coanda lenticular vehicle. US Patent Office Early Circular-Winged Aircraft