SNCASE (abbreviated from ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Est'') or Sud-Est was a French aircraft manufacturer. The company was formed on February 1, 1937, by the nationalization and merger of

Lioré et Olivier Lioré-et-Olivier was a French manufacturer of aircraft of the 20th century, founded in 1912 by Fernand Lioré and Henri Olivier. History The ''Société de Constructions Aéronautiques d'hydravions Lioré-et-Olivier'' had three factories, loca ...

Potez Potez (pronounced ) was a French aircraft manufacturer founded as Aéroplanes Henry Potez by Henry Potez at Aubervilliers in 1919 in aviation, 1919. The firm began by refurbishing war-surplus SEA IV aircraft, but was soon building new examples of ...

, CAMS,

Romano Romano may refer to: Food * Pecorino Romano, a hard, salty Italian cheese * Romano cheese, an American English and Canadian English term for a class of cheeses Places Italy Municipalities in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Latium * Arcinazzo Ro ...

and

SPCA A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is a common name for non-profit animal welfare organizations around the world. The oldest SPCA organization is the RSPCA, which was founded in England in 1824. SPCA organizations operate i ...

History

Following the

resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...

of the 1936

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...

of French heavy industry, the government of

Léon Blum André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister. As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of French Socialist le ...

introduced an act to nationalize the French war industry. The act provided for the creation of seven nationalized aeronautical manufacturing companies: six for aircraft (SNCASE,

SNCASO SNCASO (abbreviated from ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Sud-Ouest'', or commonly, ''Sud-Ouest'') was a French aircraft manufacturer. Created during 1936 as one of seven nationalised aeronautical manufacturing companies, ...

SNCAN SNCAN, (abbreviated from ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Nord''), or commonly, Nord, was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer in the pre- and post- World War II era. The company had been formed as one of six state ...

SNCAO SNCAO (abbreviated from ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques de l'ouest'') was a state-owned France, French aircraft manufacturer, which originated on November 16, 1936, from the merger of the factories of Société Anonyme de ...

SNCAM Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Midi (abbreviated SNCAM) was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. The company was formed following the resolution of the 1936 general strike of French heavy industry, when the governm ...

SNCAC SNCAC (the ', sometimes known as ) was a French aircraft manufacturer created by the nationalisation of the Farman Aviation Works and Hanriot firms in 1936. It was liquidated in 1949, with assets distributed between SNCAN, SNCASO, and SNECMA, ...

), and one for aircraft engines ( SNCM -

Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer ''Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissements de Dietrich et Cie de Lunéville'' (known as ''De Dietri ...

). SNCASE incorporated the facilities of Potez in

Berre-l'Étang Berre-l'Étang (; oc, Bèrra) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. Population See also * Étang de Berre * Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The followi ...

, CAMS in Vitrolles, Romano in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

, SPCA in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

and

Argenteuil Argenteuil () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Argenteuil is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise Departments of France, ...

and

Marignane Marignane (; oc, Marinhana) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. Geography It is a component of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, and the largest suburb of the c ...

. SNCASE became the largest of the aeronautical ', with of space in six factories and employees. ( of the workforce came from Lioré et Olivier, along with 90% of then-current manufacturing contracts.) In 1941, during the Second World War, the Paris design bureaus of both the nationalized and the private aircraft firms were relocated to avoid capture. SNCASE acquired the failing

and moved its engineering operations to SNCAM's headquarters at the former

Dewoitine Constructions Aéronautiques Émile Dewoitine was a French aircraft manufacturer established by Émile Dewoitine at Toulouse in October 1920. The company's initial products were a range of metal parasol-wing fighters which were largely ignored by t ...

factory in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

. During the rationalisation of the nationalised Aircraft Industry during the 1950s, SNCASE merged with SNCASO to form Sud Aviation on March 1, 1957, which in turn was later amalgamated into Aérospatiale and eventually the EADS group.

Products

Most early Sud-Est aircraft retained their earlier designations, such as the Lioré et Olivier LeO 451 bomber. The first aircraft produced under the Sud-Est marque was the Sud-Est SE 100 (formerly Leo 50) fighter. As well as fixed winged aircraft work, SNCASE carried out research into rotary-winged aircraft capitalising on the experience gained from absorbing the Liore et Olivier team which had license-built the Cierva C.30 design (as the LeO C.30 and C.301 to C.305 variants), and designing and building the LeO C.34 (derived from Kellett designs). After World War II further work on autogyro's produced the SE.700 and SE.700A multi-seat Liaison autogyros, which were quickly over-shadowed by the rapid development of helicopters. SNCASE continued experimenting with helicopters with the help from a team from

Focke Achgelis Focke-Achgelis & Co. G.m.b.H. was a German helicopter company founded in 1937 by Henrich Focke and Gerd Achgelis. History Henrich Focke was ousted in 1936 from the Focke-Wulf company, which he had cofounded in 1924, due to shareholder pressure. ...

building the SE.3000, which was a French version of the twin-rotor Focke Achgelis Fa 223 Drache, and the smaller, more conventional, SE.3101. With this experience SNCASE went on to design the SE.3110 and eventually the SE.3120 Alouette which first flew on 21 July 1951 and broke the helicopter distance and speed records in July 1953. Production versions of the Alouette emerged as the commercially successful

Alouette II Alouette or alouettes may refer to: Music and literature * "Alouette" (song), a French-language children's song * Alouette, a character in ''The King of Braves GaoGaiGar'' Aerospace * SNCASE Alouette, a utility helicopter developed in France i ...

and Alouette III, resulting in production runs of several hundreds, with many exported. Fixed wing aircraft were also developed post World War II, with several jet research aircraft and two significant airliners: The SE-2010 Armagnac and the SE-210 Caravelle airliners. Production licences were also obtained from

de Havilland The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...

for the

de Havilland Sea Venom The de Havilland Sea Venom is a British postwar carrier-capable jet aircraft developed from the de Havilland Venom. It served with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and with the Royal Australian Navy. The French Navy operated the Aquilon, develo ...

to provide all-weather and day fighters for the Aéronautique Navale., with 121 two-seat and single-seat Aquilon 20 / 201 / 202 / 203 / 204 built from 1952.

SNCASE aircraft production

Early three digit sequence *

SNCASE SE.100 The SNCASE SE.100 was a French two-seat, twin-engined fighter that first flew in 1939. Mass production was planned to begin late in 1940 but the Fall of France prevented this. Design and development The origins of the SE.100 predate the creatio ...

(developed from Liore et Olivier LeO 50) (1939) * SNCASE SE.161 Languedoc (developed from Bloch 160) (1939) * SNCASE SE.200 Amphitrite (1942) *

SNCASE SE-400 The SNCASE SE-400 was a prototype French twin-engined coastal patrol floatplane of the Second World War. A single example was flown, but development was abandoned in May 1940 owing to the German invasion of France. Design and development In 193 ...

(1939) *

SNCASE SE-700 The SNCASE SE-700 was a three-seat passenger autogyro designed during World War II. Two were completed but only the first flew and the programme was soon abandoned. Design and development Design of the SE-700 began in 1939 but World War II del ...

& 700A (1945) Four digit model sequence *

SNCASE SE-1010 The SNCASE SE-1010 was a late 1940s French photo-survey aircraft designed and built by SNCASE for the Institut Géographique National, one prototype was built but it crashed and the project was cancelled. Design and development In 1945 SNCASE ha ...

(1948) * SNCASE SE-1210 (1948) * SNCASE SE-2010 Armagnac (1949) * SNCASE SE-2100 (1945) * SNCASE SE-2300 & 2310 (1945) * SNCASE SE-2410 & 2415 Grognard (1950) * SNCASE SE-5000 & 5003 Baroudeur (1953) Helicopters (3000-series designation sequence) * SNCASE SE-3000 (development of Focke-Achgelis Fa 223) (1948) * SNCASE SE-3101 (1948) * SNCASE SE-3110 (1950) * SNCASE SE.3120 Alouette (1951) * SNCASE SE-3130 Alouette II & SE-3131 Gouverneur (1955) * SNCASE SE-3150 Lama (1969) * SNCASE SE-3160 Alouette III (1959) * SNCASE SE-3200 Frelon (1959) Late three digit designation sequence * SNCASE SE-116 & 117 Voltigeur (1958) * SNCASE SE-210 Caravelle (1955) *

SNCASE SE.212 Durandal The SNCASE SE.212 Durandal was a French jet and rocket mixed-power experimental fighter aircraft of the mid-1950s. It was designed by the French aircraft manufacturer SNCASE during the early 1950s, who were keen to exploit the potential advant ...

(1956)

Designs built under licence

* SNCASE SE-532-535 Mistral ; license-built de Havilland Vampire (1951) * SNCASE Aquilon; license-built de Havilland Sea Venom (1952)

References

External links