Helicopter? Close, but not quite, since the rotor blades are fixed-pitch. We’ll just go with “monocopter” for now and sort out the details later for this ducted-fan, thrust-vectored UAV.

[Brian Ritchken] and [Jim Liu] made a thrust-vector controlled balloon blimp. They call this working?!?! Three balloons provide just enough lift so that the blimp can climb or descend on motor power.

In 1972, he began marketing his design: an eight-place vertical/short-takeoff-and-landing jet with vectored thrust ... whose CH-46 helicopters lumbered along at 155 mph; duPont was promising ...