The Caudron C.600 Aiglon is a 1930s French two-seat

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

sport/touring aircraft built by

Caudron The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...

–

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

Development

The Aiglon (en: ''Eaglet'') was designed by

Marcel Riffard Marcel Riffard (1886–1981) was a French aeronautical engineer. In the 1930s, while working at the design department of Caudron-Renault, he designed a series of racer aircraft, as well as utility aircraft such as the Caudron Simoun The Caudron ...

after he took over the design department when Caudron merged with Renault. The Aiglon was a two-seat low-wing

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

monoplane with tandem open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

s. The first of two

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

s first flew in March

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

from

Issy-les-Moulineaux Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called ''Isséens'' in French. It is one of Paris' entrances and is located from Notre-Dame Cath ...

, France. Two special long-distance versions (C.610 Aiglons) were built with increased fuel capacity. In December

a C.610 was flown from Paris to

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

at an average speed of 80 mph (129 km/h). The type was popular with French private owners and flying clubs, and a number were sold abroad. With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

many of the aircraft were requisitioned by the French Government for use as liaison aircraft by the

Armée de l'Air The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

. Total production of the Aiglon was 203 aircraft, including 178 of the basic

4Pgi Bengali Junior powered model.

Variants

;C.600 Aiglon:production model with a Renault 4Pgi Bengali Junior engine, 178 built. ;C.600G Aiglon:modified version with a de Havilland Gipsy Major engine, five built. ;C.601 Aiglon Senior:modified version with a

Renault 4Pei The Renault 4P, also called the Renault Bengali Junior, was a series of air-cooled 4-cylinder inverted inline aero engines designed and built in France from 1927, which produced from to . Design and development Charles Lindbergh's Atlantic Ocea ...

engine, 18 built. ;C.610 Aiglon:special long-distance single-seat version with increased fuel, two built. ;Caudron KXC1:A C.601 exported to Japan for evaluation by the

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The was the Naval aviation, air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired their first air ...

Operators

The aircraft was operated by flying clubs, private individuals and a few air forces: ; * Argentine Air Force ; *

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

; *

Guatemalan Air Force The Guatemalan Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea Guatemalteca or ''FAG'') is a small air force composed mostly of U.S.-made aircraft throughout its history. The FAG is a subordinate to the Guatemalan Military and its commanding officer reports to th ...

; *

Royal Hungarian Air Force The Hungarian Air Force ( hu, Magyar Légierő), is the air force branch of the Hungarian Defence Forces. The task of the current Hungarian Air Force is primarily defensive purposes. The flying units of the air force are organised into a single ...

operated 6 aircraft between 1943 and 1945 ; *

, one example evaluated under designation KXC ; * Royal Romanian Air Force ; *

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics ('' Aeronáutica M ...

, used at

El Carmolí El Carmolí is an area in Los Urrutias, Cartagena municipality, in the Campo de Cartagena comarca, Region of Murcia, southeastern Spain. It used to be the site of a military air base, located near a homonymous hill in the flat Mar Menor area. One ...

fighter pilot training facility.Wings Palette - Caudron C.60/600/601 Aiglon - Spain
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Specifications (C.600)

References

Bibliography