All Aero

Lee and Richards built another aircraft, a monoplane with a conventional fuselage and tail surfaces and a 6.7 m (22 ft) diameter annular wing. The first flight on 23 November 1913 ended abruptly when the tail heavy aircraft stalled and crashed into telegraph wires without injury to pilot E. C. Gordon England. Rebuilt, the 80 hp Gnome engined Lee Richards Annular Monoplane proved easy to fly. With pilot and passenger aboard it would take¬off at about 48 kph (30 mph) and had a maximum speed of 137 kph (85 mph). The original aircraft flew for 1028 hours during ten months of testing and was the first truly successful flying saucer. Two more Lee-¬Richards Annulars were built early in 1914 for the Gordon Bennett race, and after World War I Tilghman Richards tried to interest the Air Ministry in his unusual design, without success.