The Dornier Aerodyne was the designation of an unmanned "wingless" VTOL aircraft. Conceived by Alexander Lippisch, it was developed and built by Dornier on behalf of the Federal German Ministry of Defense. Lippisch was part of the team. The first flight took place on 18 September 1972. The development ended on 30 November 1972 after successful hovering-flight testing with the aircraft. Experimentation did not continue due to lack of interest in the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces), and/or the desire to undertake plans for manned helicopters.