The SNCAC NC-600 was a prototype French twin-engined long-range fighter aircraft, developed by

SNCAC SNCAC (the ', sometimes known as ) was a French aircraft manufacturer created by the nationalisation of the Farman Aviation Works and Hanriot firms in 1936 in aviation, 1936. It was liquidated in 1949, with assets distributed between SNCAN, SNC ...

from the earlier Hanriot H.220 fighter. The type never entered service, with development being ended by the

French surrender The Armistice of 22 June 1940 was signed at 18:36 near Compiègne, France, by officials of Nazi Germany and the Third French Republic. It did not come into effect until after midnight on 25 June. Signatories for Germany included Wilhelm Ke ...

in June 1940.

Design and development

In October 1934, the French ''Service Technique de l'Aeronautique'' (or Air Ministry) issued a requirement for a three-seat fighter, with

Hanriot Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in differen ...

designing the H.220 to meet this requirement, competing with designs from

Potez Potez (pronounced ) was a French aircraft manufacturer founded as Aéroplanes Henry Potez by Henry Potez at Aubervilliers in 1919. The firm began by refurbishing war-surplus SEA IV aircraft, but was soon building new examples of an improved versi ...

(the 630),

Breguet Aviation Breguet or Bréguet may refer to: * Breguet (watch), watch manufacturer **Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747–1823), Swiss watchmaker **Louis-François-Clement Breguet (1804–1883), French physicist, watchmaker, electrical and telegraph work * Bréguet ...

(the 690) and Romano (the R-110).Green and Swanborough 1994, p. 280. The H.220 was a twin-engined

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

of all metal construction. The fuselage was a short, oval-section

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, ...

which accommodated the crew of three in tandem enclosed cockpits. The shoulder-mounted wings were braced by a single short strut on each side, and was fitted with full span trailing edge flaps and split

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement arou ...

s. Armament was intended to be two fixed forward firing 20 mm cannon and two machine guns in the rear cockpit. The unflown prototype, fitted with two Renault 12Roi air cooled

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve- cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The ...

s, was exhibited at the 1936

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (french: Salon international de l'aéronautique et de l'espace de Paris-Le Bourget, Salon du Bourget) is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France. Organized by the French ...

.''Flight'' 19 November 1936, pp. 544–545. The prototype was re-engined with

Gnome-Rhône 14M The Gnome-Rhône 14M was a small 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engine that was used on several French and German aircraft of World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

s before it made its maiden flight at

Avord Avord () is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Geography A farming area comprising the village and several hamlets situated by the banks of the river Yèvre, some east of Bourges at the junction of t ...

on 21 September 1937. Tests showed that the aircraft was unstable, with numerous changes being made to the tail surfaces to try and rectify the problems before the prototype was badly damaged in a forced landing caused by an engine failure on 17 February 1938. This crash-landing wrecked the fuselage of the H.220, and

, (''Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre''), which had been formed by the merger of Hanriot and

Farman Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French nationa ...

as part of the nationalisation of the French aviation industry in 1937, took the opportunity to rebuild the prototype to a new design. The rebuilt and resigned prototype, redesignated the H.220-2, had a new fuselage, built out of two half shells joined by a central keel, with a

twin-tail A twin tail is a specific type of vertical stabilizer arrangement found on the empennage of some aircraft. Two vertical stabilizers—often smaller on their own than a single conventional tail would be—are mounted at the outside of the aircra ...

replacing the conventional single-fin tail surfaces of the earlier design. The aircraft's wings, however, were unchanged. The aircraft first flew in this form on 17 March 1939. Meanwhile, an order for six aircraft had been placed in 1938 for evaluation purposes under the designation NC-600.Green 1969, p. 52. The design was now intended to meet a 1936 specification for a long-range fighter, competing with the Potez 670 and the SNCASE SE.100.Green 1969, p. 65. The H.220-2 was exhibited at the 1939 Brussels Air Show to represent the NC-600, but the real NC-600 was a further redesigned aircraft, with new wings and revised tail surfaces, and was now being offered as a two-seat aircraft. The proposed armament was also revised, with two additional fixed forward firing machine guns and the two rear-firing guns replaced by a single flexibly mounted cannon. The NC-600 prototype flew on 15 May 1940, but again other types were preferred, with orders being placed for 40 Potez 671sGreen and Swanborough 1996, p. 482. and at least 300 SE.100s.Green and Swanborough 1994, p. 546. Work on the six-aircraft evaluation batch was stopped by the German occupation of SNCAC's

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, ...

factory.

Specifications (NC-600)

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Aviafrance: Hanriot H-220

{{SNCAC aircraft World War II French fighter aircraft 1930s French fighter aircraft 060 Shoulder-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937 Twin-engined tractor aircraft

Design and development

Specifications (NC-600)

See also

Notes

References

External links