The researchers noted that the concept of a single-wing rotating aircraft is not new, with the first such vehicle being flown in 1952 by Charles McCutchen near Lake Placid, New York.

In the eyes of a kid such as me, those ponds were not as magnificent as Lake Dongting whose "waters in August are placid," but they did seem to extend far and wide.

In Lake Placid, home of the 1980 Winter Olympics, for example, the designers of the Village planned to use it as an open prison as soon as the Games were over.