This remarkable little machine, which is in excellent condition, was restored several years ago at the Musée du Bourget, and the engine was started using compressed air.
© Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace du Bourget
In 1962, Dassault began work on behalf of the State of Israel on the design of a ballistic missile known as the MD-620 Jericho, which made its first successful flight in 1966.
The programme was completely halted in January 1969 following a total embargo on French arms exports to Israel.
© Ecpad
In 1891, Gustave Trouvé, a versatile engineer and electrical specialist, developed a small mechanical bird.
Its wing flapping was powered by the explosion of 12 revolver cartridges contained in a cylinder.
The noisy little bird is said to have flown between 60 & 80 meters.
Imposing, yet not without elegance. The Breguet ‘Deux-Ponts’ was a cargo and passenger aircraft introduced in 1949 and operated by Air France from 1953 to 1972.
Its most distinctive feature is its two-deck configuration.
© Ecpad
It was capable of flying and was fairly agile, reaching a top speed of 10 km/h, but the engine's low power prevented it from flying into the wind.
Rare photographs of the airship built by the Tissandier brothers, renowned French aeronauts.
It was the first flying machine powered by an electric motor.
Such a motor offered numerous advantages: a stable weight, no risk of fire and great ease of use.
It flew in 1883 and 1884.
As for the rest, I’ll admit there’s a good deal of chauvinism involved...
To be honest, I have absolutely no idea why they chose this background for the image. In any case, I don't think an orbital launch pad has ever been built in Brittany. But it doesn't look like French Guiana either, so maybe it was just an artistic choice.
Its two designers, Guillaume de La Landelle and Ponton d'Amécourt, with the help of photographer Nadar, founded the “Society for the Promotion of Air Transport by Heavier-than-Air Vehicles” in 1863. They envisioned steam-powered helicopter ships such as the one shown in this illustration.
"Chère Hélice" (Dear Propeller) of 1861 is one of the first motorised helicopter in history. With a revolutionary design for its time (counter-rotating propeller, first use of aluminium in aeronautics).
It proved that an object could be lighter thanks to an aerial propeller.
In one of the world’s most beautiful regions (Brittany), a relatively small company is embarking on the development of a nano-launcher.
‘Eclipse’ plans to develop this simple, robust little rocket in stages, breaking quite a few parts in the process in order to better understand how it works.
Mr René Leduc, the brilliant engineer behind the first ramjet aircraft, once said:
"It's 1954 and if I tell you that one day we'll be transporting passengers at 2 000km/h, to be precise in 20 years’ time, what will you think of me? "
The "Super-Etendard".
This was a French attack and fighter aircraft, built by Dassault, designed to be taken on board aircraft carriers.
The successor to the Étendard IV, it first flew in 1974 and 85 were produced.
© Chris Lofting
Just to remind you that the Rafale is magical...
© Dassault Aviation
It’s not often you see a Dassault prototype in a blue livery like that...
The "Mirage III NG" was an attempt to modernise the old "Mirage III".
Based on an existing architecture to reduce development costs it was equipped with fly-by-wire controls derived from the Mirage 2000, and a fixed canard plan, a refuelling boom.
First flight in 1982.
© Ecpad
A magnificent Air France poster from the 1970s, marking the launch of the Concorde on the airline’s routes.
By the graphic designer Roger EXCOFFON.
The ‘Compagnie Générale Transaérienne’ was an airline founded in 1909 by Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe.
It was the first commercial enterprise established for the purpose of carrying passengers, initially for tourist purposes using airships, and later for passenger transport.
After the WWI, Arnoux continued to take an interest in tailless aircraft.
Here is the Carmier-Arnoux Simplex, a tailless racing aircraft built in the early 1920s. It had been designed for the 1922 Deutsch de la Meurthe Cup, but was destroyed in a crash a few days before the race.
René Arnoux was a designer of tailless aircraft, with his first model dating from 1909.
The Arnoux N°5, built in 1914, was constructed shortly before the outbreak of the WWI. Arnoux offered the N°5 to the French army as a reconnaissance & light bomber, but no one was interested.
French elegance at the service of the world.
It seems it was 1981, I got it wrong 😅
The Mirage 2000-01, first prototype in test flight in the late 1980s.
© Ecpad
The Bleriot XI ‘Pingouin’ was a series of aircraft with wings too short to take off. They were mainly used during the WWI for pilot training during taxiing phases.
© ECPAD
It was considered impractical, it was ultimately the German technique of synchronising the machine gun to fire through the propeller that was adopted by almost all aircraft thereafter.
Even before the WWI, the concept of the fighter aircraft already existed.
In February 1914, a Hotchkiss machine gun was mounted on a Deperdussin TT so that it could fire over the propeller. The gunner, standing upright, had to adjust his aim with very little comfort...
The Avion III, also known as the Aquilon, is the oldest aircraft in the world and is housed at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris.
Whether or not it actually flew, it remains a key artefact in the history of aviation.
A reenactment of Clément Ader’s 1897 takeoff attempt with "Avion III".
The aircraft, which was relatively uncontrollable, reportedly traveled 50 meters at a height of 20cm before crashing due to a gust of wind.
This clip is taken from the TV show Ushuaïa which aired in the 90s.
New acquisition: a commemorative medal honouring the work of René Leduc, the father of the ramjet.
It features his 1st aircraft, the Leduc 010.
This medal was presented to Jean Perrin, the first pilot of the Languedoc aircraft that carried Leduc 010, 016 and 021.
Just to remind you just how magnificent the Fouga Magister is! Here is the Patrouille de France at the 1967 Paris Air Show.
© ECPAD
