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Tit WA Above left: Three-view drawing of the Lockheed ramjet-powered VTOL flying disc designed by Nathan Price during the early 1950s. via Bill Rose Above right: Drawings of the Lockheed VTOL ramjet-powered flying disc configured as a passenger-carrying vehicle. US Patent Office Right: Detailed drawing of the engine ‘island’ proposed for the Lockheed VTOL ramjet-powered flying disc. via Bill Rose seems more likely that this aircraft was con- ceived from the outset as a high-altitude long- range USAF nuclear bomber and the civil representation was used to conceal its pur- pose when two similar US patents were applied for in January 1953 (Ref: 3,066,890 and 3,103,324). Somewhat surprisingly these patents were not confirmed until December 1962 and October 1963, which strongly sug- gests an initial black project status. There are several vague references in the documenta- tion to military roles for this aircraft, briefly mentioning vehicles with two-man crews and a pilotless variant. 93 Postwar Discplane Development