The Leduc 0.10 was a research aircraft built in France, one of the world's first aircraft to fly powered solely by a

ramjet A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an as ...

Design and development

René Leduc René Leduc (1898–1968) was a French engineer who is much acclaimed for his work on ramjets. In 1949 the Leduc 0.10 became the first aircraft to fly under the power of ramjets alone. Development of this aircraft had begun in 1937, but was sever ...

in 1938, it was built at the

Breguet Aviation Breguet or Bréguet may refer to: * Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer **Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker ** Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work * Brégue ...

factory after a protracted, semi-secret construction phase kept at arm's length from German occupation authorities, and was finally completed in 1947. The aircraft featured a double-walled fuselage, with the pilot controlling the aircraft from within the inner shell. The circular gap between this and the outer, cylindrical shell provided the inlet for the ramjet.

Testing

It could not take off unassisted (

s cannot produce

thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that sys ...

at zero

airspeed In aviation, airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air. Among the common conventions for qualifying airspeed are: * Indicated airspeed ("IAS"), what is read on an airspeed gauge connected to a Pitot-static system; * Calibrated ...

and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill) and was therefore intended to be carried aloft by a parasite aircraft mother ship, such as the four-engined AAS 01A & -B German-origin designs or the French-designed

Sud-Est Languedoc The SNCASE SE.161 Languedoc was a French four-engined airliner produced by SNCASE (Sud-Est). Developed from the Bloch MB.160 and known in the late 1930s as the (SNCSO) Bloch MB.161, the SE.161 was in service with Air France and the French milita ...

four-engined airliners, and released at altitude. Following test flights of the SE.161 Languedoc/Leduc 0.10 composite, independent unpowered gliding tests began in October 1947. After three such flights, the first powered flight from atop an

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

mother ship was made on 21 April 1949 over

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 Pa ...

. Released in a shallow dive at an altitude of , the engine was tested at half power for twelve minutes, propelling the aircraft to . In subsequent tests, the 0.10 reached a top speed of Mach 0.85 and demonstrated the viability of the ramjet as an aviation powerplant, with a rate of climb of to , exceeding that of the best jet fighters of the time. Of the two 0.10s originally built, one was destroyed in a crash in 1951 and the other severely damaged in another crash the following year. Both pilots survived with serious injuries.

0.11/ 0.16/ Third 0.10

In addition to these, a third aircraft was built, designated 0.11 (0.16 in oneLa saga des statoréacteurs VII. La longue marche vers un avion opérationnel (The story of ramjets VII. The long march towards an operational aeroplane) at xplanes.free.fr
Accessed 24 December 2017 source). Generally similar to the 0.10, it featured a

Turbomeca Marbore Safran Helicopter Engines, previously known as Turbomeca, is a French manufacturer of low- and medium-power gas turbine turboshaft engines for helicopters. The company also produces gas turbine engines for aircraft and missiles, as well as turbin ...

I turbojet on each wingtip, to provide better control during landings. This first flew on 8 February 1951, but was converted back to 0.10 standards (and thereafter referred to as Leduc 010 n°03) a few months later after problems occurred, including misting of the pilot's windows, powerplant synchronization, and wing deflection caused by the turbojets. The engines were replaced by inert mass balances. This aircraft flew 83 test flights, and is preserved at Le Bourget.

Subsequent prototypes

The larger Leduc 0.21 flew from an air launch on 16 May 1953, and the swept wing supersonic Leduc 0.22 interceptor began testing on 26 December 1956 with a SNECMA Atar turbojet before the program was terminated in 1958.

Specifications (0.10)

Notes

References

* * *

External links

* http://xplanes.free.fr/stato/stato-2.html {{Leduc aircraft 1940s French experimental aircraft Leduc aircraft Ramjet-powered aircraft Bréguet aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1947