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The Leduc experimental aircraft were designed and built by French engineer René Leduc. Four types succeeded with increasing performances, the Leduc 010, 016,021 and 022. They all had in common two original features: their ramjet engine and general shape.
The ramjet propulsion (also called thermo propulsive nozzle by René Leduc), which had already been studied by René Lorin in 1913, does not require any rotating part, is suitable for high speeds but has the disadvantage of not ensuring takeoff. To allow the aircraft to take off and reach the ignition conditions for his ramjet, René Leduc successively adopted two formulas:
Their particular form, very recognizable, brought them to be nicknamed "the flying stove pipes".
The development had begun before the war and spread mainly over the period 1945-1958. The Leduc Company was created for this purpose, and based in Argenteuil, near Paris. Six prototypes were built for flight tests: two 010, one 016 (later transformed into a 010), two 021 and one 022. There was a second 022 completed at 80%, but mass production was never started.
Flight tests were conducted over a period of eleven years (November 1946 to December 1957). They were held in Toulouse, Brétigny and Istres, with test pilots Jean Gonord, Yvan Littolff and Jean Sarrail.
Several Leduc projects did not lead to any production: the 011 (fighter), 012 (Bomber), 015, 020, 030 (supersonic twin nozzle interceptors with straight wing), the 040 (light interceptor), the 050 (a bomber in two versions: single nozzle and twin nozzle).
In February 1958, because of the many development difficulties not yet solved and increasing budgetary constraints, the French government took the decision to stop the work on these aircraft. However, the French Nord 1500 Griffon, the only other experimental aircraft equipped with a turbo-ramjet combination, and direct competitor of the Leduc 022, continued its trials for three years, and accumulated numerous records, with test pilot André Turcat at the controls.
It was the first attempt at a practical application of the ramjet technology that had been developed in the 010 and 021 research aircraft over the previous years. Unlike all previous Leduc aircraft, it featured swept wings and a coaxial turbojet-ramjet powerplant to enable unassisted operation.
First flown on 26 December 1956 on turbojet power alone, the ramjet was finally fired on the 34th flight, on 18 May 1957. Another 80 flights took place before the cancellation of the project in favour of the more conventional Dassault Mirage III. A second prototype was under construction at the time.
Although intended to be a supersonic fighter, the 0.22 proved unable to exceed the speed of sound (Mach 1) because of the prohibitive drag induced by its non-area-ruled fuselage at near-sonic speeds. The cancellation of the project marked the end of René Leduc's aircraft development activities.
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Specifications (0.22)
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