Sud Aviation Caravelle

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sud Aviation Caravelle
Sud Aviation Caravelle by Corse Air
Type: Short and Medium-haul airliner
Design country:

FranceFrance France

Manufacturer:

Sud Aviation

First flight:

May 25, 1955

Commissioning:

May 6, 1959

Production time:

1958 to 1972

Number of pieces:

282

View into the cockpit
Caravelle of JAT
Air France aircraft in 1963 at Rhein-Main Airport before a flight to Berlin
Swissair HB-ICX
Iberia's Caravelle in the 1970s
The first Caravelle of the Transwede
Caravelle of Sobelair , 1972
Finnair's Caravelle , 1976
Caravelle from LTU
Caravelle VI of Iberia
Caravelle from Austrian Airlines
Caravelle the SAT, 1979
Caravelle of AVENSA , 1972

The Caravelle from the French company Sud Aviation was one of the first mass-produced jet-powered commercial aircraft for short and medium-haul flights in the world. In order to accelerate development, the nose and cockpit of the four- engine De Havilland DH.106 Comet, which had been developed earlier, were adopted largely unchanged for the low- wing aircraft with pressurized cabin , but the arrangement of the engines at the rear included the first-time use of this concept.

development

The Caravelle concept was presented to the six most important French aircraft manufacturers as a specification by the French aviation authority SGACC (Secrétariat Général à l'Aviation Civile et Commerciale) in 1951. The aim was to develop an aircraft type that could compete with the British Comet . The specification published on November 6, 1951 called for a payload of 6 to 7 tons to be carried over a distance of at least 2,000 km at an average speed of 700 km / h. From the many proposals submitted, the Development Commission finally selected the X210 draft from the state-owned SNCASE in September 1952 . This company was merged with SNCASO to form Sud Aviation in 1957 . The first project proposal envisaged the use of three Atar engines from French production, which were to be attached to the rear of the fuselage. Ultimately, the British Rolls-Royce-Avon engine was chosen, which had already proven its reliability. The fact that the Avon was much more powerful led to a twin-engine design of the aircraft. The result was the design, which was revolutionary in aircraft construction at the time, with two tail engines and a clean wing with a moderate sweep . The Caravelle has a cross tail , which means that the horizontal tail is attached to the vertical tail . The cabin was originally designed for 52 passengers, but later versions could hold up to 140 passengers.

The development costs of the Caravelle were borne in full by the French state, and a contract to build two prototypes was signed on January 3, 1953. In addition, there were two fracture cells for proof of strength. The project name was changed to SE.210 and the project name Caravelle was chosen.

The first flights of the prototypes took place on May 25, 1955 and May 6, 1956. While these machines were powered by Avon RA.26 engines, the series aircraft received the RA.29-Mk.522 units. The first sales success came on November 16, 1955, when the state Air France placed an order for twelve machines. Other European airlines soon followed, including SAS , which became one of the largest operators of the Caravelle.

On April 2, 1958, the type certification was carried out by the French authorities and six days later by the US authorities. On May 18 of the same year, the first production aircraft, the Caravelle I, took off on its first flight. Deliveries to Air France began on March 19, 1959, and on May 6, 1959, the aircraft was officially put into regular service. As the first foreign company, SAS received the Caravelle on May 15, 1959. Compared to the prototype, the Caravelle I had Avon RA.29-Mk.522 engines, a fuselage stretched by 1.5 m and a longer tail fin that housed the HF antenna.

In 1962, of the 75 million working hours at Sud Aviation, 70 percent were used in the manufacture of the Caravelle. In September 1962, this largest production series in Western Europe comprised 147 firm orders and 99 options.

Use and operator

The main operators of the Caravelle were Air France (46), SAS and Alitalia (21 each). The largest operator outside Europe was United Airlines , which - like the Danish Sterling Airways  - operated 20 copies. Other large operators were Iberia (19), Air Inter (14) and Finnair (12). Other airlines that Caravelles - partly used - acquired and flew included Aero Lloyd , Aircalin , Air Charter , Austrian Airlines , Hispania , Trabajos Aéreos y Enlaces (TAE), Istanbul Airlines , LTU , Luxair , SAT Flug , Sultan Air , Swissair , TAP Portugal , Transwede and Tunisair .

From the mid-1970s the Caravelle was displaced from most main routes by larger and more modern aircraft types, but it was still used quite frequently in charter traffic until the 1980s. One of the last operators in Europe was Air Toulouse , which last flew in 1995 with the Caravelle 10B3 Super B. The probably last Caravelle in commercial use, a Caravelle 11R of Transair Cargo registered in Swaziland with the registration number 3D-KIK and production number 251 (first flight 1968), crashed on August 28, 2004. It was originally supposed to land in Goma ( Congo ), However, did not immediately receive a landing permit there and had to circle in a waiting loop. Since there was little fuel left, the pilot decided to fly to the neighboring airport of Gisenyi in Rwanda instead . The Caravelle had an accident while landing on the runway, which is only 1,000 meters long. All eight inmates survived the accident. The Congolese Waltair , whose license was withdrawn in September 2005, is said to have flown with a Caravelle 10B3 (production number 169) until July 2005 .

There are efforts to make a Caravelle III formerly used by Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) airworthy again and to use it for sightseeing flights. The Swedish Le Caravelle Club owns the Caravelle with the production number 210 (license plate SE-DAI), which is stationed at Stockholm / Arlanda Airport . The last time the machine flew was on January 28, 1999, since then the machine's engines have been started once a year. However, Airbus, the last type maintainer, has withdrawn the certificate of airworthiness. So she could only fly with a single permit ("Permit to fly"). However, this is very difficult to obtain for a commercial aircraft. For this reason and for financial reasons, the “second first flight” as a museum aircraft has not yet taken place.

At present it must be assumed that there is no airworthy caravelle anywhere in the world.

variants

1980 postage stamp

Based on the prototype, various variants with up to 140 seats have been developed over the years. With the exception of variants I and IA , almost all Caravelle samples were offered and produced in parallel with one another.

Caravelle I
Compared to the prototype, this first series version of the Caravelle was stretched 1.50 meters and thus offered a maximum of 80 passengers, depending on the equipment. The Caravelle I had more powerful Rolls-Royce RA-29 Avon Mk.522 with 46.7 kN thrust each. The type received French approval on April 2, 1959, and FAA approval six days later. Air France carried out the first flight with paying passengers a little later on the Paris – Rome – Athens – Istanbul route.
Sales: 20 total; to Air France (10), SAS (6), Air Algérie (2) and VARIG (2). One of the VARIG machines was leased by the manufacturer to Air Vietnam and Middle East Airlines before it was ultimately delivered to Royal Air Maroc .
Caravelle IA
This variant had the same dimensions as the normal Caravelle I , but had more powerful Rolls-Royce Avon RA-29/1 Mk.526 engines. The first flight took place on February 11, 1960. The machines of Variants I and IA were later converted to the Caravelle III standard without exception .
Sales: 12 total; to Air France, SAS, Air Algérie, Finnair and Royal Air Maroc.
Caravelle III
Improvements to the engines of the Avon series led to the development of the Caravelle III , which first flew on December 30, 1959 and was handed over to the first customer Alitalia in April 1960 . The Caravelle III had Rolls-Royce Avon RA-29/3 Mk.527 and RA-29/3 Mk.527B, each with 50.7 kN thrust. Compared to the previous versions, this version had a larger take-off weight and reached a higher cruising speed. With 78 copies, this was the best-selling Caravelle variant. Then there were the 23 Caravelle I and IA , which were brought up to the standard of the III series in the course of 1961.
Sales: 78 total, plus 23 converted Caravelle I / IA ; Main customers: Air France, Swissair , Alitalia, SAS, Royal Air Maroc.
Caravelle VI-N
Another more powerful variant, which had a higher maximum take-off weight and Avon RA-29/6 Mk 531 or RA 29/6 Mk 531B, each with 54.28 kN of thrust and a silencer. However, the maximum payload was limited in favor of a longer range. For this purpose, the Caravelle III prototype was modified to the Caravelle VI and flew as such for the first time on September 10, 1960. Sabena was the first airline to put this variant into service on February 18, 1961. The designation VI-N was only introduced after the development of the VI-R to distinguish the earlier aircraft ( VI-N ) from those that were equipped with a thrust reverser ( VI-R ). The "N" in the type designation stands for the silencer (N = noise suppressor).
Sales: 53 total, plus 5 converted Caravelle III ; Customers included Alitalia, Jugoslovenski Aerotransport (JAT), Middle East Airlines (MEA) and Sabena; used machines were later operated by Corse Air , Minerve , Pushpaka Aviation and Sobelair , for example .
Caravelle VI-R
In February 1960 United Air Lines was the only US airline to place an order for 20 Caravelle. This led to the development of the Caravelle VI-R . This Caravelle version represented an important milestone in aviation history - the Caravelle VI-R was the first passenger aircraft to be mass-produced to have a thrust reverser and spoilers . These changes, as well as a more powerful braking system (the early models were still equipped with parachutes ), were introduced to meet US airworthiness requirements. In addition, the Caravelle VI-R got larger cockpit windows with a different arrangement. The first flight took place on February 6, 1961 and FAA approval was obtained on June 5 of the same year. United Air Lines began scheduled service on July 14th. The Caravelle VI-R was powered by Avon Ra-29 Mk. 533R and 535B with 56.05 kN thrust each. The "R" in the engine model name stood for Reverse ( reverse thrust).
Sales: 56 total; to United Air Lines (20), as well as to Indian Airlines (9), Austrian Airlines (5), Panair do Brasil (4), Cruzeiro do Sul, Iberia (4), LAN Chile (3), Aerolíneas Argentinas (3 ), TAP (3).
Caravelle VII
The two Caravelle VI variants were the last Caravelle models to be fitted with Rolls-Royce-Avon engines. For a long time Sud Aviation investigated the usability of other engines. The beginning of 1960 the company sold a Caravelle III of General Electric , which there with two turbofan type CJ805-23C was equipped each with 71.7 kN thrust. The first flight of the aircraft designated as Caravelle VII took place on December 29, 1960.
Sales: none; only one Caravelle III was converted into a Caravelle VII .
Caravelle 10A
The same GE engines as for VII Caravelle were for the project Caravelle 10 provided with an elongated one-meter hull, as well as for the Caravelle 10A with the changing designations Caravelle Horizon and Caravelle Super A . According to a requirement of the TWA, the Super A should have a wider inner wing, a row of windows raised by 200 mm, double slotted flaps, a tail unit transition drop and an auxiliary power unit ( APU ) in the rear. TWA initially ordered 20 such machines in 1961, but the order was canceled the following year due to financial problems. When TWA was ready to buy new aircraft again, the Douglas DC-9 was available, which was chosen instead of the Caravelle. At the time of the cancellation by TWA, a corresponding prototype was already in production, which successfully completed its maiden flight on August 31, 1962.
Sales: none; only one Caravelle 10A was built.
Caravelle 10B (Super Caravelle)
At the same time as the Caravelle 10A , Sud Aviation developed the Caravelle 10B, which was powered by Pratt & Whitney JT8D -1 fan engines with a static thrust of 62.2 kN each and had a takeoff weight of 52,000 kg. The same engine type was later used on the Boeing 727 and the Douglas DC-9 . The prototype of this model started for the first time on March 3, 1964 and on August 16 of the same year the first copy was handed over to Finnair. On February 23, 1968, the Danish charter airline Sterling Airways received its first Super B, also known as Super Caravelle. This version based on the 10B had a takeoff weight of 54,000 kg. The take-off weight of the last aircraft delivered to Sterling was increased by a further 2,000 kg. The most significant changes compared to the standard version were the one meter longer fuselage, which offered a maximum of 105 passengers, and the horizontal stabilizer, whose wingspan was increased by 1.40 m. The depth of the wings was significantly enlarged at their roots. Optionally, the capacity of the flat tanks could also be increased, increasing the maximum range to 3,640 km.
Sales: 22 total; The main operator with eight copies was Finnair; other operators included Sterling Airways , LTU , Alia and UTA .
Caravelle 10R
The Caravelle 10R, which first flew on January 18, 1965, was basically a Caravelle VI-R with JT8D-7 engines and a cascade thrust reverser. While the fuselage length and passenger capacity remained unchanged compared to the Caravelle VI , the payload / range ratio was significantly improved. The maximum cruising speed increased to 820 & km / h thanks to the new engines, while at the same time the maximum take-off weight was increased to 52,000 & kg. As a first customer, Alia (today's Royal Jordanian ) received its first Caravelle 10R on July 31, 1965 .
Sales: 20 total; Operators of used copies were among others Aero Lloyd and Transwede .
Caravelle 11R
Closely related to the Caravelle 10R was the Caravelle 11R for mixed passenger and cargo operations, which had a large cargo door in the left front half of the fuselage for this purpose. Compared to the 10R, the torso experienced a stretching of 0.70 meters (to 32.71 meters). The prototype of the 11R made its maiden flight on September 22, 1967.
Sales: 6 total; to Air Afrique , Air Congo and Transeuropa .
Caravelle 12 (Super Caravelle)
As the largest and most powerful variant, specially geared towards the charter market, Sud Aviation built the Caravelle 12 , a version derived from the Caravelle 10 Super B with a fuselage extended by 3.20 meters and structural reinforcements on the supporting structure. The maximum take-off weight was increased to 58,000 kg and up to 140 passengers could be transported in tight seating. Improved engines of the type JT8D-9 with 64.5 kN static thrust were installed as drive. The Caravelle 12 was created at the suggestion of Sterling Airways , which ordered seven copies and whose first aircraft flew for the first time on October 29, 1970. As the only other customer, the French domestic airline Air Inter bought five of these machines, the last of which was delivered in 1972.
Sales: 12 total; to Sterling Airways (7), Air Inter (5).

Production ceased in 1972 after a total of 282 Caravelle of all versions (including two prototypes) were built.

Super Caravelle (1961)

At the Paris Air Show 1961 a completely different successor aircraft in the Caravelle as was Super Caravelle referred: It was a supersonic-capable 70-plätziges medium-range aircraft . In cooperation with Great Britain, this design and the BAC Type 223 designed there resulted in the larger Concorde, which is suitable for transatlantic traffic .

Incidents

From the first flight in 1955 to the end of operations (around 2005), the Caravelle caused 65 total aircraft losses. In 31 of them, 1,304 people were killed.

  • On September 12, 1961, the pilots of a Caravelle III of Air France (F-BJTB) on the flight from Paris-Orly to Rabat initiated the descent four kilometers too early. The machine hit a hill and went up in flames. All 77 inmates died. The contributing factor was the unergonomic design of the Kollsman altimeter installed in the Caravelle.
  • On September 4, 1963, a Swissair Caravelle III ( HB-ICV ) crashed due to a fire on board caused by overheated brakes. The fire resulted in a complete failure of the hydraulics, making the aircraft no longer controllable. All six crew members and 74 passengers - 43 of them came from the small village of Humlikon - died (see also Swissair flight 306 ) .
  • On July 26, 1969, a fire broke out in the electrical room of a Caravelle 6N of Air Algérie (7T-VAK) during a charter flight from Marseille to Hassi Messaoud ( Algeria ). The pilots tried to reach Biskra airport for an emergency landing. However, the plane crashed in flames while approaching Ain Naga, 45 kilometers east-southeast of Biskra. Of the 37 occupants, only 4 crew members survived. All 30 passengers and 3 of the crew members were killed.
  • On April 1, 1970, a Royal Air Maroc (CN-CCV) Caravelle III crashed while approaching Casablanca-Nouasseur Airport ( Morocco ) and burned out. Apparently, control was lost in the fog near Berrechid , 9 kilometers from the airport but only about 500 feet (150 meters) high. Of the 82 occupants, 61 were killed, 5 crew members and 56 passengers.
  • On January 7, 1972, the pilots of a Sud Aviation Caravelle VI-R (EC-ATV) fell below the safety altitude and flew the machine against a mountain on the island of Ibiza . All 104 occupants were killed (see also Iberia flight 602 ) .
  • On 23 December 1973, a Caravelle VIR accident of Brazilian Cruzeiro do Sul (PP-PDV) on the Airport Manaus Ponta Pelada ( Brazil ). The machine was approached far too fast and too high, touched down 850 meters (2,800 feet) behind the start of the runway, slipped off the runway and shot down a slope at a speed of 80 knots. Amazingly, all 58 occupants, 5 crew members and 53 passengers survived the total loss.
  • On March 15, 1974, while taxiing at Tehran-Mehrabad Airport, the right landing gear suspension of a Caravelle 10B3 from Sterling Airways (OY-STK) broke , puncturing the right wing tank and leaking kerosene, which ignited. Despite the immediately initiated evacuation, 15 of the 96 people on board were killed (see also Sterling Airways flight 901 ) .
  • On December 18, 1977, a Caravelle 10R of the Swiss airline SATA ( HB-ICK ) with the flight number 730 from Zurich via Geneva to Funchal crashed into the sea 4 km from the runway while approaching Funchal Airport , Madeira . Only 21 passengers survived, 36 were killed. The wreck was only found 34 years later by two divers at a depth of 105 meters (see also SA-de-Transport-Aérien-Flight 730 ) .
  • On December 21, 1980, an explosion occurred on board a Caravelle VI-R of the TAC Colombia (HK-1810) just five minutes after taking off from Riohacha Airport . Before the machine could return to the airport, it broke apart in mid-air and fell to the ground, killing all 70 people on board. The cause of the crash could not be conclusively clarified, the theories ranged from an accident with fireworks to a bomb on board (see also flight accident of a Sud Aviation Caravelle of TAC Colombia ) .
  • On April 29, 1983, shortly after the take-off of a Caravelle VI-R operated by SAN Ecuador (HC-BAT) from Guayaquil airport , a double engine failure occurred. The machine could not return to the airport and crashed into a muddy field. 8 out of 100 people on board died in the accident (see also SAN-Ecuador flight 832 ) .
  • On January 18, 1986 another airplane of the Ecuadorian SAETA was flown into the ground, this time a Caravelle VI-N (HC-BAE) . The machine beflog on behalf of Aerovias Guatemala to just 270 kilometer route from Guatemala City La Aurora to airport Flores (Guatemala) , as it removes opened after a first go-around at the second attempt eight kilometers from the target in the area and was completely destroyed. In this CFIT ( Controlled flight into terrain ) all 94 occupants were killed, 6 crew members and 88 passengers. To date (January 2020) it was the most serious aircraft accident in Guatemala.
  • On April 26, 1989, an Aerosucre Caravelle 11R (HK-3325X) crashed into an inhabited area shortly after taking off from Barranquilla , Colombia . All five occupants (three crew, two passengers) and two people were killed on the ground. The cause was the poorly secured cargo slipping during take-off, which shifted the aircraft's center of gravity to such an extent that it stalled (see also the Aerosucre accident at Barranquilla 1989 ) .
  • On January 31, 2001, the last Caravelle accident occurred with fatalities. A Caravelle 10R of the Líneas Aéreas Suramericanas (HK-3932X) converted into a cargo plane flew around 8 kilometers from El Yopal / El Alcaraván airport. The machine started there; when landing in Mitu , they touched down in front of the runway. It was launched to return to El Yopal. As it passed the control tower, it looked as if part of the left main landing gear was missing. On its final approach, the aircraft brushed the ground; there was a crash landing in a meadow and the outbreak of fire. The cargo consisted of 14 barrels with a total of around 3700 liters of gasoline. Of the 6 occupants, 3 were killed, 1 crew member and 2 passengers (see also flight accident of a Sud Aviation Caravelle of the Líneas Aéreas Suramericanas ) .

Technical specifications

Parameter I / IA III VI-N / VI-R 10B 10R 11R 12R
First flight May 27, 1955 (prototype)

May 14, 1958 (I)
February 11, 1960 (IA)

December 30, 1959 Sep 10, 1960 (VI-N)

February 6, 1961 (VI-R)

August 31, 1962 (10A)

March 3, 1964 (10B)

January 18, 1965 September 22, 1967 October 29, 1970
length 32.01 m 33.01 m 32.01 m 32.71 m 36.24 m
height 8.72 m
Width / hull diameter outside 3.20 m
Cabin width inside 3.01 m
Wingspan 34.30 m
Wing swept 20.0 °
Wing area 146.7 m²
Wing extension 8.0
Max. Takeoff mass 45 t 46 t 48 t (VI-N)
50 t (VI-R)
52 t
56 t (Super B)
52 t 54 t 56 t
Max. Landing mass 41.5 t 46 t 48 t 49.5 t
Max. Number of seats (one-class seating) 80 99 80 105 140
Cruising speed 746 km / h 805 km / h 845 km / h 800 km / h 835 km / h
Max. Altitude 10,700 m 12,000 10,700 m 12,100 m 10,700 m
Range 1,500 km 1,700 km 2,350 km 3,640 km 2,650 km 2,800 km 2,655 km
Engines I: 2 Rolls-Royce Avon RA-29 Mk.522 with 46.7 kN each

IA: 2 Rolls-Royce Avon RA-29/1 Mk.526 with each? kN
III: 2 Rolls-Royce Avon RA-29/3 Mk.527 (B) with 50.7 kN each
VI-N: 2 Rolls-Royce Avon RA-29/6 Mk.531 (B) with 54.28 each kN
VI-R: 2 Rolls-Royce Avon RA-29/6 Mk.535R with 56.05 kN each

10B / 10R / 11R: 2 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7s with 62.3 kN each

12: 2 Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9 with 64.5 kN each

See also

Web links

Commons : Sud Aviation Caravelle  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. NZZ Technology: The French Aviation Industry , NZZ, noon edition September 5, 1962, sheet 3, page C9
  2. Flight accident data and report of the Transair Cargo flight in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
  3. Le Caravelle Club ( Memento of October 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
  4. Concorde Medium-Range Airframe , heritageconcorde.com, accessed on April 27, 2020
  5. ^ Accident statistics Sud Aviation SE-210 Caravelle , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 6, 2018.
  6. ^ Accident report Caravelle OY-KRB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 21, 2017.
  7. ^ Accident report Caravelle 3 F-BJTB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 29, 2019.
  8. Aircraft accident data and report Caravelle 3 HB-ICV in the Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 22, 2017.
  9. Caravelle III OD-AEM flight accident data and report in the Aviation Safety Network , accessed on November 6, 2018.
  10. ^ Accident report Caravelle 3 F-BOHB , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 3, 2020.
  11. Air-Britain Archive: Casualty compendium part 105 (English), December 2007, pp. 2007/191.
  12. Accident report Caravelle 6N 7T-VAK , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 3, 2020: Information is partially incorrect.
  13. Air-Britain Archive: Casualty compendium part 106 (English), March 2008, p. 2008/48.
  14. ^ Accident report Caravelle 3 CN-CCV , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 3, 2020.
  15. ^ Accident report Caravelle VI-R EC-ATV , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 6, 2018.
  16. ^ Accident report Caravelle 10B3 OY-STL , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 5, 2019.
  17. ^ Accident report Caravelle 10R EC-BID , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on March 22, 2017.
  18. ^ Accident report Caravelle 10R EC-BIC , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 2, 2020.
  19. ^ ICAO Aircraft Accident Digest 21, Circular 132-AN / 93 (English), pp. 91-97.
  20. ^ Accident report Caravelle 3 7T-VAI , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 3, 2020.
  21. ^ Accident report Caravelle VI-N OO-SRD , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 12, 2018.
  22. ^ Accident report Caravelle VIR PP-PDV , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 3, 2020.
  23. ^ Accident report Caravelle VI-N VT-DWN , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on November 6, 2018.
  24. ^ Accident report Caravelle HB-ICK , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 21, 2017.
  25. ^ Accident report Caravelle VI-N HC-BAE , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on February 12, 2020.
  26. ^ Accident report Caravelle 10R HK-3932X , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 11, 2019.
  27. a b Lorenz, Holger: Start into the nozzle age ; Marienberg 2008, p138f. or book pages 138-139 , download (PDF; 217 kB)