The Dassault MD.415 Communauté was a 1950s
French twin-engined light turboprop transport monoplane built by
Dassault Aviation. Only one prototype was built and flown.
Development
The Dassault company designed a light transport aircraft in the late 1950s, designated MD.415 and later named ''Communauté'', as a potential replacement for the
Dassault MD 315 Flamant
The Dassault MD 315 Flamant is a French light twin-engined transport airplane built shortly after World War II by Dassault Aviation for the French Air Force.
Design and development
Design work on a twin-engined light transport started in 1946 wi ...
in its trainer, command transport or ambulance aircraft roles. The Communauté was a cantilever low-wing monoplane with retractable tricycle landing gear with room for two crew and up to ten passengers. Powered by two wing-mounted
Turbomeca Bastan turboprops, the prototype (''F-WJDN'') first flew on 10 May 1959.
[Lemaire ''Le Fana de l'Aviation'' December 1986, p. 13][Chillon, Dubois & Wegg 1980, p. 127]
The company also developed a military version designated the MD.410 Spirale.
[''Flying'' August 1961, p. 49] Retaining 90% commonality with the Communauté, the Spirale had all the windows removed and transparent nose panels added. It also had provision for cannon or machine-gun armament and was fitted with under-wing hardpoints for weapons. It was intended that the Spirale could be used for close-support, reconnaissance or transport roles.
Neither the Communauté nor the Spirale received any production orders and a high-wing development designated Spirale III was also abandoned.
Variants
;MD.410 Spirale
:Prototype military version, one built, powered by two
Turbomeca Astazou XIVD engines.
;MD.415 Communauté
:Prototype light transport, one built.
;MD.415 Communauté A1:A proposed joint development from Dassault and
Sud-Aviation
Sud Aviation (, ''Southern Aviation'') was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating from the merger of Sud-Est (SNCASE, or ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du sud-est'') and Sud-Ouest (SNCASO or ''Société n ...
for a new version of the MD 415, a liaison aircraft carrying eight passengers over or a feeder-liner carrying 21 passengers over .
;MD.415 Communauté A2: Proposed 14-seat variant.
;MD.415M Diplomate
:A proposed scaled-up executive transport variant.
;MD.455 Spirale III
:Proposed high-wing transport version,
[Taylor 1962, pp. 38–39] not built.
Specifications (MD-415 Communauté)
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dassault Communaute
1950s French civil utility aircraft
Communaute
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1959
Twin-turboprop tractor aircraft