Couzinet's Flying Saucer

A 3/5 scale model of a proposed VTOL 'flying saucer' aircraft, the Couzinet Aerodyne RC-360, on display at a workshop on the Ile de la Jatte in Levallois-Perret, Paris, 1955. Designed by French aeronautical engineer Rene Couzinet (1904 - 1956), the Aerodyne was to feature two contra-rotating crowns of 96 small wings rotating around a motionless cockpit. These were to be powered by six 180 HP Lycoming engines in three pairs. Horizontal propulsion was to be provided by the jet engine, which can be seen mounted under the cockpit. The aircraft was refused government backing, however, and never reached the prototype stage. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)