Twin jet Flamant replacement

[GreenDragon]

I found this pretty cool delta twin-jet Flamant replacement Whif on the Sharkit site. I didn't make it but I thought you might like to see it (if you haven't already!) don't know if it was a real project or not. It is from a French site called Master194.com, just click on the pic of the Dassault Trait d'Union and it will take you to a build thread. Linky http://renax.club.fr/sharkit/news/news.htm

It's all in French and my babelfish won't translate it so I can't understand most of it. Why can't these foreign chappies all learn English, it would make things so much easier!

Paul Harrison

Edited June 13, 2008 by GreenDragon

[bexwh773]

Good find Paul

Bex

[John B (Sc)]

A bit of fun Paul.

It appears that this was a genuine project. Andre's inspiration was a plan view and an article by Renee Lemaire, designer of the Dassault Mystere 20, in issue no.179 of 'leTrait d'Union', May-Jun 1998.

These project concept studies were done at Dassault's Mariganac office. One Flamant replacement study was based on the Ouragan, another (this) on the Mirage 1, then just getting going - mid Fifties.

Both high and low wing version studies done, with doubt about wing fuselage junction issues. It sounds as if one concept looked at burying engines in the fuselage. Air intake and other problems ruled that out. Engine failure concerns meant a solution was found in grouping the engines outside the fuselage at the rear, close together to reduce handling difficulties after engine failure. (Less yaw effect. Recall that early jets had high failure rates, piston engines had high failure rates. Much more of a probleme than today) Two and four jet options were debated.

After that, the model is all speculation, based on extrapolation from the concept ideas described by M. Lemaire and the sketch plans. A bit of grey matter massage, not just leaning back twiddling the thumbs, eh voila !

I'm not quite sure what the 'Fou de Dassault' comment means - need to improve my colloquial or aviation history French I think. Literally 'Dassault madness'.

It may refer to the spirit of the time - "heck anything is possible, lets' try it". France built some strange & fascinating concept aircraft in those days.

After all the Mirage was the best aircraft we never built. It was essentially the FD2 miltarised. Dasault never understood why we let that wither. Between that and the SR53 we had a good start on delta aerodynamics and handling. (I'm ignoring the mighty Gloster Dragmaster which simply showed that enough brute force can make any horror fly ! It certainly taught us about delta drag if nothing else.)

Fascinating stuff.

A bientot, mes amis.

Edited June 13, 2008 by John B (Sc)

[GreenDragon]

I did my usual thing Bex and clicked the wrong bookmark and found it by mistake!

Thanks for the info John, I was thinking of cobbling something similar together in 1/48th with the aid of a wrecked Esci Mirage IIIC as a starting point. Maybe give it a beefier landing gear, tailhook and paint it as a Royal Navy COD plane?

Paul Harrison

[Sebastien]

I'm not quite sure what the 'Fou de Dassault' comment means - need to improve my colloquial or aviation history French I think.

Hi,

Here, he describes himself as a terminal Dassault enthusiast.

Cheers,

S.

[John B (Sc)]

Hi,

Here, he describes himself as a terminal Dassault enthusiast.

Cheers,

S.

Ah - d'accord.

Merci Sebastien

Paul - I like that COD idea, for either the Aeronavale or FAA !

Edited June 14, 2008 by John B (Sc)