A second prototype, the SE.2415 Grognard II, flew in February 1945. A two-seater with wings swept at 32 degrees, it was damaged in a belly landing. Both designs suffered from flutter-induced problems. The definitive production version would have been the SE.2418, which was to have been powered by Rolls-Royce Tay turbojets, but the SO Vautour was selected to meet the Armee de l’Air’s ground-attack requirement instead.
SE.2415-08 Engine: 1 x 2400kg Rolls-Royce Nene 102 turbojet Max take-off weight: 18000 kg / 39683 lb Empty weight: 11312 kg / 24939 lb Wingspan: 13.58 m / 45 ft 7 in Length: 16.84 m / 55 ft 3 in Height: 5.20 m / 17 ft 1 in Wing area: 44.23 sq.m / 476.09 sq ft Max. speed: 960 km/h / 597 mph Cruise speed: 880 km/h / 547 mph
Designed as a single-seat ground-attack aircraft, the Sud-Est SE.2410 Grognard (Grumbler – a nickname for a soldier of Napoleon’s Old Guard) prototype flew for the first time on 30 April 1950. Powered by two 2197kg thrust Hispano-Suiza Nene 101 turbojets mounted one above the other in the fuselage and aspirated via a dorsal inlet, the Grognard I flew as a single¬-seater with wings swept at 47 degrees.
A second prototype, the SE.2415 Grognard II, flew in February 1945. Both designs suffered from flutter-induced problems. The definitive production version would have been the SE.2418, which was to have been powered by Rolls-Royce Tay turbojets, but the SO Vautour was selected to meet the Armee de l’Air’s ground-attack requirement instead.
SE.2410 Grognard Engine: 2 x 2197kg Hispano-Suiza Nene 101 turbojets Wingspan: 13.57 m / 44 ft 6 in Wing area: 495 sq.ft Length: 15.40 m / 50 ft 6 in Height: 17 ft Empty weight: 24,508 lb Loaded weight: 31,967 lb Max. speed: 1038 km/h / 645 mph at 4920 ft Ceiling: 11590 m / 38050 ft ROC: 5315 fpm Range: 853 km / 530 miles Armament: 2 x 30mm cannon, bombs and rockets Crew: 1
In 1946 in France, plans were drawn for three new aircraft including the Sud-Est 2010, for 150 passengers, with delivery at the end of 1948. Fifteen SE 2010s had been ordered for delivery at the end of 1948. However, it was 2 April 1949 before the aircraft, christened the Armagnac, made its maiden flight. Powered by four 3,500-hp Pratt & Whitney Wasp Majors, this was designed to carry 64 passengers (with bunks) on the South and North Atlantic routes, or 107 on shorter runs. Air France, however, refused the aircraft on the grounds that bunks were no longer required, and there was therefore excessive space in the fuselage. Four were bought by Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux for freighting, but after only eight months this company decided that they were not economical. In 1954 they were overhauled and used to transport troops and supplies from Toulouse to fight the war in Indo-China. A further five were also used for this purpose.
Engines: 4 x Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Major, 3500 hp Pax cap: 150
From the end of 1951, the bureau d’etudes headed by Pierre Satre at the SNCA du Sud-Est undertook a series of studies of potential lightweight mixed-power interceptor fighters under what was effectively the generic designation SE 212. These studies crystallized in the shape of a small, 60-degree delta powered by a SNECMA Atar 101F with an afterburning thrust of 3800kg and a 750kg SEPR 75 rocket motor. The primary armament was intended to consist of a single AA 20 or R 052 missile carried externally on the fuselage centreline, alternative armament being two 30mm DEFA cannon or 24 SNEB rockets of 68mm calibre. An official contract was placed for two prototypes, the first of which was flown on 20 April 1956 without the rocket motor fitted. The Atar 101F turbojet was subsequently replaced by an Atar 101G with an afterburning thrust of 4400kg, and the first flight during which the rocket motor was lit took place on 19 December 1956. The second prototype SE 212 was flown on 30 March 1957. During flight testing a speed of 1444km/h, or Mach=1.36, was attained at 12,300m without the rocket motor and 1667km/h, or Mach=1.57, was reached at 11,800m with the rocket motor lit. These speeds were achieved without armament fitted, and the test programme terminated in 1958.
Loaded weight: 6700 kg / 14771 lb Empty weight: 4575 kg / 10086 lb Wingspan: 7.44 m / 24 ft 5 in Length: 12.07 m / 40 ft 7 in Wing area: 29.60 sq.m / 318.61 sq ft Max. speed: 1667 km/h / 1036 mph
The Caravelle was the outcome of a specification issued in November 1951 by the French Secretariat General of Commercial and Civil Aviation for a 1600 to 2000km range airliner with a 6000 to 7000kg payload requirement at a speed of 620km/h. Six major French aircraft constructors submitted design proposals. The S.N.C.A. du Sud-Est responded with two projects: one a triple Atar-design with three rear mounted SNECMA Atar turbojets, designated the X120 and the other based on the use of two as yet undeveloped by-pass engines, designated the X210. This design then matured to feature two rear mounted Rolls-Royce Avon R.A.26 engines. In January 1953 the French government ordered two flying and two static prototypes of the twinjet.
In Toulouse, Sud Aviation was building the SE 210, destined to be known as the Caravelle, and the most successful of European civil aircraft of its generation. The prototype, F-WHHH, made its maiden flight on 27 May 1955, followed by the second prototype, F-WHHI, on 16 May 1956 and four more were ordered in July 1953. To speed construction the first Caravelles used DH Comet nose sections purchased from de Havilland. The Caravelle was the first jet to be built in France, and its design, with rear-mounted engines, was revolutionary. Originally it was intended to have three French-made SNECMA turbojets, but it was soon decided that two Rolls-Royce Avons would be more economical. On 3 February 1956, after extensive trials, Air France placed an order for 12, with an option for 12 more.
First production and two prototypes – 1958
The first production machine, the Sud-Aviation SE-210 Caravelle I F-WHRA, was flown on 18 May 1958, and the initial production series, the Caravelle I and IA with Rolls-Royce Avon 522 and 526 engines respectively, entered service with Air France and S.A.S. in mid-1959. The first series, Caravelle I, was delivered to Air France from 18 May1958, and after one year’s proving they inaugurated the company’s regular service Paris-Rome-Istanbul. Other airlines – SAS, VARIG, Air Algérie – soon followed Air France’s lead. These Caravelle I and IA have been converted to Caravelle III standards with the Rolls-Royce Avon RA.29 mk527’s, and a maiden flight on 11 February 1960.
The Caravelle proved a great success, despite the competition from American manufacturers, and the aircraft then went through a series of modified types. The first production Caravelle III, being the 24th Caravelle whose maiden flight took place on 30 December 1959, was provided with more powerful engines, Avon 527s, and had a greater capacity. The first operational aircraft went into service with Alitalia on 23 May 1960. This model offers standard accommodation for 64-80 passengers, and was supplanted in production by the Caravelle VI-N and VI-R with the Avon 531s and Avon 533Rs respectively. The first Caravelle VI-N flew on September 10, 1960, followed by the VI-R on February 6, 1961. The VIN had a heavier payload and longer range; the VIR, of which 20 were ordered by the American United Air Lines for the New York-Chicago service, had numerous other modifications.
Orders for the Caravelle totalled nearly 100 by the autumn of 1960.
On 4 September 1963 a Swissair Caravelle had brakes overheat from extensive taxiing ad parts of a tire and melted wheel rim were found on the runway. When retracted, the overheated landing gear ruptured hydraulic and fuel lines starting a hot fire in the wing. Losing control, it crashed shortly after take-off from Zurich, Switzerland, killing 80 persons on board.
The Caravelle 10B introduced more fuel efficient Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofans, while the 11R was a convertible passenger/freighter based on the 10. The Caravelle IIR, which first flew in 1967, had a three foot fuselage extension, forward of the wing, incorporating a large cargo door in the left side of the fuselage, for mixed passenger freight, and Pratt and Whitney turbofan engines.
Caravelle IIR
Then, in 1964, came the Super Caravelle12, a slightly stretched version powered by Pratt & Whitney JT8D-1 turbojets, which was flown in service for the first time by Finnair on 16 August 1964. It was stretched 3.21 m over the Caravelle 10 and could seat up to 128 single class passengers.
When production ended in 1973, a total of 282 SE-210 Caravelles were built, including 20 Caravelle I; 12 Caravelle 1A; 78 Caravelle 3 (including 31 upgraded from 1/1A); 53 Caravelle 6N; 56 Caravelle 6R; 20 Caravelle 10B1R; 22 Caravelle 10B3; 1 Caravelle 10R; 6 Caravelle 11R and 12 Caravelle 12.
Two Caravelles were purchased by the Swedish Air Force from SAS airline in 1971 (formerly SE-DAG and SE-DAI) and equipped with a long black ventral pod and the insignia of the Flygvapnet. The Caravelles actually served as flying spies for National Defence Research Institute with batteries of multi-track recorders installed in the cabin.
Swedish electronic reconnaissance Caravelle
Air France flew its last Caravelle service on 28 March 1981, from Amsterdam to Paris. The event came just short of 22 years after the Caravelle went into service, on 5 May 1959, and in all Air France purchased 46 Caravelles of various types, out of total production of 280. The fleet world-wide had logged about 7 million flight hours by the end of 1980, and according to Aerospatiale 174 examples are still in service.
Caravelle I Engines: 2 x 12,600 lb. (5,725 kg.) thrust Rolls Royce Avon turbojet Length 105 ft. (32.01 m) Wing span 112.5 ft. (34.30 m.) Weight empty 57,935 lb. (26,280 kg.) Max. accommodation: 99 Max cruise 525 m.p.h. (845 km.p.h.) Range 1,430 miles (2,300 km.) with max. payload
Caravelle IIR Engines: 2 x Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B
Caravelle III Engines: 2 x RR Avon 527, 11,400 lb Wing span: 112 ft 6 in (34.3 m) Length: 105 ft 0 in (32.01 m) Height: 28 ft 7 in (8.72 m) Max TO wt: 101,413 lb (46,000 kg) Max level speed: 500 mph ( 805 kph)
Caravelle VIN Engines: 2 x RR Avon 531
Caravelle VIR
Super Caravelle Engines: 2 x Pratt & Whitney JT8D-1 turbojet
Caravelle 12 Engines: 2 x Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9, 64.5kN Max take-off weight: 58000 kg / 127869 lb Empty weight: 29500 kg / 65037 lb Wingspan: 34.29 m / 113 ft 6 in Length: 36.23 m / 119 ft 10 in Height: 9.02 m / 30 ft 7 in Wing area: 146.70 sq.m / 1579.06 sq ft Cruise speed: 825 km/h / 513 mph Ceiling: 7620 m / 25000 ft Range w/max.fuel: 11240 km / 6984 miles Range w/max.payload: 3465 km / 2153 miles Crew: 2 Passengers: 128-140
With the issue of a specification for a successor to the Potez 631 twin-engined fighter in service with the Armee del’Air, P-E Mercier and Jacques Lecarme of the Societe Nationale de Constructions Aeronautiques de Sud-Est (SNCASE) tendered the design of a highly innovative aircraft, the SE 100. Of mixed construction with a wooden wing and a duralumin-covered welded steel-tube fuselage, the SE 100 featured a retractable tricycle undercarriage with a steerable nosewheel and small outrigger wheels retracting into the bases of the endplate vertical tail surfaces. The main wheels fitted right aft, retracting into the tail rather than the wings or engine nacelles as was conventional.
Powered by two 1,030hp Gnome-Rhone 14N 14-cylinder radial engines, the first prototype SE 100 was flown on 29 March 1939 at Argenteuil. Various modifications, including provision of a retractable ventral fin, were introduced as a result of initial flight test, maximum speed being raised from 560km/h to 580km/h as a result. The proposed armament comprised a nose-mounted battery of four Hispano–Suiza HS.404 20mm cannon and a single aft-firing cannon on an electro-pneumatic mount. It was proposed that the crew would comprise two members for diurnal operations and three members for nocturnal missions, and a crawl tunnel was provided between the cockpits. A number of necessary changes were identified during the tests.
On 5 April 1940, during a landing approach, the pitch mechanism of the starboard propeller malfunctioned and the aircraft was destroyed. At this time, assembly of a second prototype had begun, this possessing slightly larger overall dimensions, dispensing with the crawl tunnel to increase fuselage fuel capacity and having an all-metal one-piece wing. Armament was also revised, the forward-firing battery being increased to six 20mm cannon, paired weapons of the same calibre being mounted in a dorsal turret and an additional 20mm cannon being mounted to fire through a ventral hatch.
The aircraft proved to be around 100 km/h faster than the Potez 631, the French Air Force’s current twin-engined fighter, and production was authorized. The Citroen factory in the suburbs of Paris began tooling-up to assemble 300 SE 100s for deliveries to commence at the end of 1940, but the German occupation of Paris prevented final assembly of the second prototype. Proposed variants included the SE 101 and 102 with 1,200hp Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp and 1,050hp G-R14N-2/3 engines respectively.
SE 100 (first prototype) Max take-off weight: 7500 kg / 16535 lb Empty weight: 5520 kg / 12170 lb Wingspan: 15.70 m / 52 ft 6 in Length: 11.80 m / 39 ft 9 in Height: 4.28 m / 14 ft 1 in Wing area: 33.06 sq.m / 355.85 sq ft Max. speed: 580 km/h / 360 mph Cruise speed: 500 km/h / 311 mph Range: 1300 km / 808 miles
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