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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0817.PDF
26 June 1953 811 The Bordeaux-Merignac factory of Marcel Dassault, with a line of Ouragan fighters on the left and Flamants on the right. FRENCH ORIGINALITY National Products at the Show: a Critical Preview By JAMES HAY STEVENS THE XXth Salon promises to reveal a realistic revival in the French aircraft industry commensurate with the realism that has led to the desertion of the cramped, if nostalgic, venue of the Grand Palais for the open spaces of Le Bourget. The period since the last Salon has been a difficult one for the French aircraft industry, with the economies of succeeding governments directed at the air vote, so that the small production orders have had to be spread around the various factories of the nationalized com panies. The private firms have had an even tougher time, but somehow the majority have survived and there has even been a revivial of two historic names, Farman and Potez, while Marcel Dassault and Hispano-Suiza are actually flourishing. The harsh facts of fife have resulted in the 1953 Salon revealing fewer prototypes, perhaps, than in the past, but also fewer fantasies and more solid worth. The NATO agreements relegated the Armee de l'Air mainly to close-support duties, so that military thought has been directed principally to developing ground-attack aircraft. First there was the Vampire licence acquired by the S.N.C.A.S.E., which led eventually to the modified, Nene-engined Mk 53, the Mistral. This was shown at the last Salon, but not in its fully modified form. It now has an ejector seat, improved air intakes, a remarkable amplitude of plenum-chamber doors (about 1 sq m), and a fuel system giving a slighty greater endurance than that of the Goblin Vampire. The large plenum doors give an improved take-off thrust, while the modified intake has raised the maximum speed to 575 m.p.h. and the critical Mach number by about 0.02. The Ouragan-Mystere series were designed primarily as inter cepted, but the fighter-bomber role was not overlooked in their equipment. The Ouragan is now in full production for the Armee de l'Air (which has just released some of its order for the^ Indian Air Force) at the Dassault factory at Merignac near" Bordeaux and in the plants of nationalized companies in the Paris, Toulouse and Bordeaux areas. The Ouragan is an excellent flying-machine, but its structure does not facilitate production, since the aeroplane was originally designed very quickly so as to get in first and corner the market. The much more robust Mysteres—which really bear only an external aerodynamic resemblance to the Ouragan—have been designed with more of an eye to production. The Mk IV will be new at the Salon. It has a thinner wing and greater sweep than the earlier Mysteres, and the Jacotet hydraulic boosters on the controls are supplemented by a flying tail. The latter may not actually be operative on the prototype to be demonstrated at Le Bourget, but it will be on all production Mk IV aeroplanes and may be fitted to the Mk II as a modification. An interesting innovation is the Hunter-like spine on the fuselage. This was added as a result of flight trial and it has prevented turbulent eddies from the cockpit hood stalling the lower pan of the fin. The current Mystere IVA has the 6,250 lb s.t. Hispano-Suiza Tay centrifugal and is comparable in performance with the Sabre or Mig-15. Another prototype is nearing completion with an Atar 101 axial and a two-position afterburner. At present the picturesque Dassault factory at St. Cloud is making a pre-series of 75 Mystere fuselages and their other Parisian factory at Argenteuil is building 50 sets of wings, prior to full-scale NATO production in nationalized plants. The St. Cloud factory is principally an experimental shop and is also engaged on the prototypes of the Mystere IVB with the Rolls-Royce Avon 9 and an F-86D-style nose and the Mystere IVN, an all- weather version. Four new ground-attack prototypes will be on view, two of which are of radical and imaginative design. The S.N.C.A.S.E. S.E. 5000 Baroudeur is a very unusual conception indeed and owes its origin to the ideas of M. Georges Hereil, President of the company. Studying the reports of Korean operations, M. Hereil —who, though no technician, is a very astute businessman— decided that current efforts to achieve high-speed performance while neglecting the other end of the speed-range were not only misdirected, but were in danger of defeating their own ends. He personally conceived the idea of a rocket-launched aircraft landing on skids—so reviving the principles of the short-lived Me 163 and Ar234—and engaged Mr. W. J. Jakimiuk to carry out his ideas. The latter is, of course, the designer of the D.H.C. Chip- Dassault Mystere IVA. Note the spine, which prevents eddies from the canopy from stalling the base of the fin.
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