Marlène Aviation

I think the French tradition is to make endless plane noses, so we might as well continue the tradition!

FAST !!!

I have been working for some time on a documentary about the Leduc 010 ramjet aircraft. It should have been available several months ago, but I have not been diligent enough in its production. I promise you that it is late (very late), but it is coming!

The Aerospatiale ‘Corvette’ light twin-engine jet was a light utility transport aircraft, of which 40 were built. It was the French national aircraft manufacturer's only venture into the business jet market.
A few were used by Air France in the mid-1970s.

© Ralf Winter

When I'm bored, I imagine aeroplanes. Here's the ‘ Aiguille ’

painted by artist Johan Bringmans.

The few commercial routes of the gigantic transport seaplane ‘Latécoère 631’.
The most beautiful commercial seaplane in the world.

#OnThisDay 28 Feb 1944: Air France planes on the tarmac at Maison Blanche airport in Algiers. [2/3]

1+2: A Dewoitine D338 (Reg. No. F-AQBD).
3+4: A Farman F 2200 Transatlantique (Reg. No. F-AOXF).

#WWII #WW2 #Aviation #AviationHistory #MilitaryHistory #France #Algeria #AirFrance

The D.338... I understand that some people may not find it very attractive, but in my eyes it's a rather unique Art Deco marvel!

I say one of my favourites, but I think my heart will always be with the Leduc 010, whose construction began in 1938.

Probably one of my favourite first-generation jet aircraft, the Arsenal "VG.70".
Designed in 1945, it was an experimental wooden aircraft powered by a Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engine, intended for the study of swept wings.
The programme was abandoned in favour of the "VG.90" carrier-based fighter.

Family picture.
The experimental SFECMAS ARS 1301 glider next to the aircraft resulting from its stud, the Nord 1402 'Gerfaut'. Only the Nord 1500 'Griffon' is missing

The images are from the film, the story of an aeronautical engineer whose work is cursed by bad luck... So here, yes, technically, these images illustrate a structural failure. 😅

To better understand: bsky.app/profile/avia...

For the purposes of the 1942 film ‘Retour de flamme’ (Backfire), Mr Nicolas Roland Payen designed an aircraft with delta wings and retractable canards, the PA.22/S or PA.22/7.
He liked the concept so much that he filed a patent for it and continued his research into this design.

Super Caravelle was the name given to the French pre-Concorde project. As soon as collaboration between the two countries began, the name could no longer be used, as it would have given the impression that one country had ascendancy over the other.

The Franco-British ‘Super Caravelle’ in 1966?
I think that match manufacturer Albert Heijn may have missed some information.

Building on his research into delta wings, which began in the early 1930s, and his work on variable sweep wing, which began around 1942, Mr Payen designed the magnificent Pa 46/7 turbojet-powered speed aircraft in 1946.

Bizarre but strangely beautiful.
The Leduc 021 was an experimental ramjet aircraft designed to achieve high speed and high climb rates. Two examples were built in 1953 and 1954. They were flight tested between 1953 and 1956.

The Beat Boy, one of my favorit !

The Lorraine Hanriot LH.131 was a single-seat training and racing aircraft designed and built in 1932 under the name LH.130. In 1933, it was modified to compete in the International Michelin Cup under the name LH.131.

The SE.100 was a 1939 aircraft originaly designed by "LeO".
It was the prototype of a twin-engine heavy fighter. Despite its strange architecture, the aircraft seemed very promising and powerfully armed, but the outbreak of WW2 brought the project to a halt.

1940 Arsenal VG.60 project sectional view. It was the ultimate evolution of the VG-30 family.
The ventral radiator of the other models was installed inside the fuselage, the air then being expelled through the tail. It should have been armed with 8 machine guns & a 20mm cannon.

Born in secrecy during WWII, the SO.30N ‘Bellatrix’ was a prototype pressurised airliner.
The prototype was assembled in March 1943, but in order to protect it from Allied bombing and seizure by the Luftwaffe, it was hidden.
It flew in 1945 and became the SO.30 ‘Bretagne’.

© ECPAD

Do you own a Caudron "Simoun" and your country has just gone to war?
This tutorial is for you!

© ECPAD

The French are renowned for their aircraft, which are sometimes very strange, sometimes magnificent, sometimes very dubious... In your opinion, what is the worst French design?

Arsenal-Delanne 10C2 :

The Mélot jet engine was an ancestor of the ramjet, and was developed from 1921 onwards..
It was viable and had been tested on a test bench, but in the end it did not power any aircraft.

Among the pioneers of jet propulsion was Mr Payen, who was also a delta wing pioneers.
The Payen-Melot Pa.22/1R was a 1935 concept involving an aircraft equipped with a Mélot jet engine and a delta wing with canards, far ahead of its time.
The painting is by Payen himself.

And I called him René all those years...

"Farewell to André Leduc's last prototype."