Leduc 022
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__NOTOC__ The Leduc 022 was the
prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...
of a mixed-power French
interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Interceptor'', a British drama series on BBC One * Interceptor (game show), ''Interceptor'' (game show), a British television game show that ran during 1989 * Interc ...
built in the mid-1950s. Designer
René Leduc René Henri Leduc (; April 24, 1898 – March 9, 1968) was a French engineer and aircraft manufacturer, renowned for his pioneering work in ramjet propulsion. Leduc's groundbreaking designs, including the Leduc 010, 016, 021, and 022, were inst ...
had been developing
ramjet A ramjet is a form of airbreathing jet engine that requires forward motion of the engine to provide air for combustion. Ramjets work most efficiently at supersonic speeds around and can operate up to . Ramjets can be particularly appropriat ...
-powered aircraft since before
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and had flown a series of experimental aircraft, the Leduc 0.10 and
Leduc 0.21 __NOTOC__ The Leduc 0.21 was a research aircraft built in France in 1953 to refine the practicalities of ramjet A ramjet is a form of airbreathing jet engine that requires forward motion of the engine to provide air for combustion. Ramje ...
, throughout the 1950s before he was awarded a contract for two examples of a short-range supersonic interceptor armed with two
air-to-air missile An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft (including unmanned aircraft such as cruise missiles). AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid-fuel roc ...
s (AAMs). Intended for combat use, the 022 was able to take off from a runway as it was fitted with a supplementary
turbojet The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
engine, unlike his earlier aircraft which required a mother aircraft to carry them to altitude because ramjets cannot produce thrust while stationary. Development was cancelled by the
French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...
(Armée de l'Air) in 1958 due to budgetary problems while flight testing was underway and before the second prototype was completed.


Background and description

In 1953 the French Air Force issued a specification for a high-performance interceptor that could intercept and destroy any aerial threat after taking off from a grass runway. It ordered two prototype 022S aircraft in competition with the Nord Gerfaut and Griffon. Leduc used a more powerful version of the ramjet that he had been developing since 1938 and added a turbojet to allow for more autonomous operations. Air for the ramjet was provided by six air ducts surrounding the nose section that emptied into the hollow interior of the double-walled
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
where fuel was injected and ignited by the exhaust of a
Turbomeca Artouste The Turbomeca Artouste is an early French turboshaft engine, first run in 1947. Originally conceived as an auxiliary power unit (APU), it was soon adapted to aircraft propulsion, and found a niche as a powerplant for turboshaft-driven helicopter ...
gas turbine A gas turbine or gas turbine engine is a type of Internal combustion engine#Continuous combustion, continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas gene ...
. The ramjet was expected to produce a thrust of and a time to of only seven minutes, a climbing speed much faster than jet-powered aircraft.Carbonel, p. 81–83 The 022S was generally similar in configuration aside from the 30°
swept wing A swept wing is a wing angled either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than perpendicular to the fuselage. Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigated in Ge ...
s and
tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...
. It retained the thick barrel-like
monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...
fuselage and the protruding nose section housing the transparent
Plexiglass Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and bran ...
cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...
, but added a range-only
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
. The forward part of the nose formed an escape capsule for the pilot. The aircraft was provided with approximately of fuel distributed between the fuselage, wings and wingtip tanks. Its intended armament consisted of a pair of Nord AA.20 guided missiles and 24 anti-aircraft rockets. Unlike all previous Leduc aircraft, it featured a coaxial turbojet-ramjet powerplant to enable unassisted operation. The turbojet was initially a Turbomeca Ossau engine, but this was changed during construction to a much more powerful
SNECMA Atar 101 The SNECMA ATAR 101 is a French axial-flow turbojet engine built by SNECMA. It was derived from engines and design work carried out at BMW in Germany during World War II, and extensively developed though a progression of more powerful models. Th ...
D-3. This change caused the aircraft to be redesignated as the 022 and allowed the number of rockets to be increased to 40. First flown on 26 December 1956 on turbojet power alone, the ramjet was finally fired on the 34th flight, on 18 May 1957. It reached a speed of
Mach The Mach number (M or Ma), often only Mach, (; ) is a dimensionless quantity in fluid dynamics representing the ratio of flow velocity past a Boundary (thermodynamic), boundary to the local speed of sound. It is named after the Austrian physi ...
1.15 on 21 December 1957, but was damaged shortly afterwards when it caught fire while taking off. Construction of a second prototype had been cancelled in October and the flight testing contract was cancelled on 13 February 1958 after 141 flights had been made. The ongoing
Algerian War The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...
was consuming more of the military budget and the more conventional
Dassault Mirage III The Dassault Mirage III () is a family of single/dual-seat, single-engine, fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by French aircraft company Dassault Aviation. It was the first Western European combat aircraft to exceed Mach 2 in horizont ...
was selected to meet the interceptor requirement. The cancellation marked the end of Leduc's aircraft development activities.Buttler, pp. 50–51; Carbonel, p. 83


Surviving aircraft

The unflown second prototype 022 is on display at the Musée de l'air et de l'espace at
Paris–Le Bourget Airport Paris–Le Bourget Airport () is an airport located within portions of the communes of Le Bourget, Bonneuil-en-France, Dugny and Gonesse, north-northeast of Paris, France. Once Paris's principal airport, it is now used only for general a ...
. It was donated by the Leduc family in 1979.Buttler, p. 51


Specifications


References


Bibliography

* *


External links


A French-language page on the aircraft

Les avions LEDUC
test flight footage for Leduc 0.10, 0.16, 0.21, and 0.22 from
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br>Dominique Perruchon

The fighter jet that was 'too fast' - The French Leduc 022
a
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Found And Explained
{{Leduc aircraft 1950s French fighter aircraft Leduc aircraft Ramjet-powered aircraft Twinjets Mid-wing aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear Aircraft first flown in 1956