The unusual Solido Leduc

[grwebster]

Here is one that no one else made a toy or model of except Solido France

This unusual aircraft was developed in the early stages of German wartime occupation of France by Breguet, but hidden away until after the war. It was not test flown until 1947. It was powered by a ramjet and needed to be carried aloft on another plane for engine start......and as a pilot I wonder what the ejection plan was? You can read more here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leduc_0.10


The Solido toy first appeared with a blued cockpit along with all the other early postwar Solido aircraft until it was eliminated, probably for cost reasons, by1955. It has wire outriggers for stability.

Solido was not into making many gift sets during the 1950s but here is one which featured the Leduc.


The last aircraft toys Solido made were carrier based French Marine nationale planes planted marine blue with an anchor in the center of the roundel.

[alas]

I love these experimental craft - how about this beauty, which really took off (once, I gather) in 1959?
Another French experiment!

There is a plastic model - I have never seen a diecast, let alone a tin one...

[24C]

The Solido Leduc is a model of the 010, that was launched from a Languedoc transport plane.



Rene Leduc was working at Breguet and developed the ramjet technology in 1937, then got a government subvention to build a prototype. But that happened only after the war,
The picture you show is of the much more evolved supersonic Leduc 022 ramjet, that took off on its own. Only problem is that it was never supersonic due to issues with drag where the wings connected to the fuselage. The 021-022 did over 80 flights but the project was shelved in favor of the Dassault-Bloch Mirage III delta fighter.
The 022 is now on display in superb condition in the truly great air museum at Le Bourget, near the Roissy-CDG airport, north of Paris.



While there is no other model I know of the 010, the 022 was modeled in a rare plastic kit in a small scale by the French company Brifaut. Two aircraft were provided in the kit (the plane needed only the nose and clear cockpit added), one with vacuum plated fuselage.
The Coleoptere was modeled as a plastic kit by Heller.

[Tone]

The Solido Leduc is a model of the 010, that was launched from a Languedoc transport plane.

That Languedoc resembles the pre-war Louis Marx Co. wind-up toy planes.

[Tone]

I love these experimental craft - how about this beauty, which really took off (once, I gather) in 1959?
Another French experiment!

coleoptere.jpg

There is a plastic model - I have never seen a diecast, let alone a tin one...

Good grief, that one certainly would create a rash of Soucoupe volante sightings ! ! !

[24C]

The Coleoptere was the subject of an early Heller plastic kit that is a bit difficult to find today. Check pictures of the real thing and the Heller model here:

http://www.google.fr/search?q=avion+col ... 80&bih=649

More information in French showing pictures in flight: http://jpcolliat.free.fr/xfv1/xfv1-8.htm
Looks like the bird crashed on its 6th flight while transition was attempted. The thing became uncontrollable and the pilot ejected, was gravely wounded and that ended his testing pilot career. The Coleoptere was dropped despite all attempts by SNECMA to revive the project. Today of course with modern electronic guidance system processing information at a zillion bytes per second, this thing would have no problems doing the job...

[grwebster]

Thanks for the info and photos
In the USA VTOL prototypes of the same period ran into piloting problems as while the ascent and conversion to vertical flight was not an issue, the reverse operation was. Pilots became easily disoriented and extremely uncomfortable and this resulted in various attempts at rotating the cockpit to as near horizontal as possible when in vertical mode.
So many VTOL prototypes were tried and dropped including rotating the jet engines, rotating the wings and engines, compound helicopters, and finally with the first Harrier having success with rotating the single jet engine's exhaust nozzles and some bleed air assist at 4 points around the a/c. The Harrier of course suffered a lot of training accidents until the systems, training, and its pilots improved. Well not really! They continued to lose aircraft every decade until recntly when the aircraft was finally retired.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ha ... ily_losses

The Osprey, which rotates its large prop/rotors and engines, I am told, could not fly by a human pilot alone without the computer inputs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidents_ ... -22_Osprey
Even then overcontrol issues {pilot technique} were a hazard to safe flight. Here is one unfortunate example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3lbKqStvHI

[24C]

When I was a child, I was fascinated by the VTOL aircraft, both French and especially, American. I LOVED them! I had a Solido and a Mercury Convair of course, but my favorite was the Ryan Vertijet. I though that was so cool...
But I never failed to be impressed by the French pulse jets, from the Leduc attempts to the Griffon.
Regardless, the finest French postwar aircraft for me was the SNCASO Trident. What a GREAT machine, comparable in many ways to the F104.
Going back to the Leduc, when I was younger and employed by the heller kit company, we went to Meudon where all the French experimental aircraft were stored until the opening of the fantastic museum at Le Bourget. There, under poor conditions were stacked the Espadon, the Leduc 010 and 021, the Griffon and many other fantastic experimental aircraft. I wish digital cameras existed then...
I just found a picture of the Brifaut kit that sold on eBay 2 weeks ago for Euro 234.00: