Carrying up to 120 passengers, the unconventional design offered some interesting aerodynamic advantages.Due to there being no ends to the wings as it was a complete circle, it could generate more lift.This meant it didn’t use up as much fuel and carried a lighter load as well as being affected less by crosswinds.

As it was a lot slimmer than the average plane, width wise, it also meant special runways could be used that take up less space.Despite all these huge benefits the plane never officially made its first historic flight.Due to the innovation it made it a lot harder to make and therefore a whole load more expensive as manufacturers had never made it before.

The potentially clever system was also let down by a huge increase in parasitic drag caused by the increased lift.This essentially meant the fuel load saved was cancelled out by the drag, making it use up just as much fuel anyway.The wacky concept was made by aerospace engineer Rolo Smithers in the 80s.The original idea came from some of the first aircraft concepts ever built in France that had circular closed wings.

One of the first planes created had two large circular wings on it – one at the front and one at the back – instead of the flat wings we now see.They weren’t the best concepts as outside of a few bunny hops taking it off the ground it couldn’t get further than a few feet in the air at one time.

Earlier this month, a supersonic plane that promises to be the next generation of commercial travel announced it was in the works.Designed by Oscar Viñals from Barcelona, Spain, the spaceship-like aircraft looks like something straight out of Star Wars and can carry 300 passengers in ultra-lux flights.It is also powered by electricity and reaches a top speed of around 1,150mph.