North 1500

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North 1500 Griffon
Nord 1500 Griffon II.JPG
Griffon II in the Musée de l'air et de l'espace
Type: Experimental airplane
Design country:

FranceFrance France

Manufacturer:

SFECMAS / Nord Aviations

First flight:

20th September 1955

Commissioning:

Flight testing ended

Production time:

Was never mass-produced

Number of pieces:

2

The Nord 1500 Griffon was a French experimental aircraft with a mixed propulsion of jet and ramjet engine . The machine had its first flight in 1955. An improved version of the Griffon (Nord 1500-02 Griffon II ) set several records for speed and climb in the late 1950s. However , there was no further development into a combat or reconnaissance aircraft .

history

During the transition to jet-powered aircraft, which was already becoming apparent at the end of the Second World War , engineers were often confronted with the problem of underpowering combat aircraft. When the French Ministry of Aviation demanded a fast interceptor for the Armée de l'Air to defend against possible supersonic bombers in the early 1950s , Nord Aviation relied on the powerful ramjet engine , which however had the disadvantage of almost no thrust at low speeds to deliver. This disadvantage was to be avoided by giving the machine a mixed drive with a jet turbine for take-off and landing and a ramjet engine for cruising flight. The jet turbine was installed inside the north ramjet tube, which had a diameter of 1.37 m.

The first flight of the prototype took place on September 20, 1955 with the test pilot André Turcat . More than 150 flights followed by April 1957, after which the machine was scrapped.

North 1500-02 Griffon II

The second prototype differed from the first in the faired cockpit hood, an enlarged air inlet and the lack of small stabilizing fins at the stern. The second machine started on January 23, 1957. The drive system ran without problems, only the air inlet, which was still too small, restricted the performance.

End of the program

Mainly because of problems with the thrust control of the ramjet engine - the pilot practically only had the choice between full and no thrust - the project was abandoned. The Griffon II had made about 200 flights without solving the problems. The Mach-3-capable Super Griffon was no longer developed. At that time, jets without mixed propulsion had already won the competition.

construction

The Griffon consists essentially of a cylindrical fuselage that contains the two combined engines and a large part of the fuel. The cockpit is located above the air inlet. The machine has a delta wing swept by 60 ° and combined ailerons and elevators. Below the cockpit there were two delta-shaped trim surfaces that gave the aircraft duck-plane properties even at supersonic speeds.

use

After further modifications, the Griffon achieved almost unbelievable values ​​with Mach 1.85 in the climb. In February 1957, the machine set several climbing performance records, for example it took a minute and 41 seconds to climb from a standstill to 9,000 m.

At the latest after André Turcat had completed a 100 km flight with an average speed of 1643 km / h in February and thus set a new world record, the Griffon II also became known outside of Europe. On October 5, 1960, the Griffon reached its absolute peak with 2.19 times the speed of sound.

Technical specifications

Parameter Data
crew 1
length 14.54 m
span 8.10 m
height 5.0 m
Wing area 32.0 m²
Empty mass 6725 kg
Wing loading 210 kg / m²
Top speed 2330 km / h
Rate of climb 100 m / s
Takeoff route 600 m
Landing route 1000 m
Engines an axial air jet turbine SNECMA Atar 101E-3 with 34.3 kN (3500 kp)

and a ramjet engine Nord Stato-Réacteur with 68.0 kN (7000 kp)

Received aircraft

The Nord 1500-02 Griffon II is on display in the Musée de l'air et de l'espace .

Comparable types

See also

Web links

Commons : Nord 1500  - Collection of images, videos and audio files