The SNCAO CAO.600 was a French prototype twin-engined torpedo-bomber of the

Second World War 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 ...

. It was intended to operate from two new

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

s of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

, but only a single example had been completed and flown when the surrender of France in June 1940 ended development of the aircraft.

Design and development

In 1937 the French ''Service Technique de l'Aeronautique'' (or Air Ministry) launched its A47 specification to replace the Aéronavale's elderly Levasseur PL.7 torpedo-bombers and Levasseur PL.101

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using Aerial photography, photography), signals ...

, both obsolete

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

s, aboard the

's two planned new aircraft carriers, the ''Joffre'' and ''Painlevé''. The requirement demanded that the new aircraft, which was to act as a torpedo-bomber, level bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, had to have a maximum speed of over 300 km/h (186 mph), with an endurance of 3.5 hours as a torpedo-bomber and 6 hours on reconnaissance missions. Unusually for a carrier-based aircraft, particularly for 1937, the specification demanded that the new aircraft be twin-engined, carrying a crew of two as a torpedo bomber and three as a level bomber or reconnaissance aircraft.Green ''War Planes of the Second World War:Volume Seven'' 1967, pp. 145–146. An order for two prototypes was placed with the Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques de l'Ouest (

SNCAO SNCAO (abbreviated from ''Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques de l'ouest'') was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer, which originated on November 16, 1936, from the merger of the factories of Breguet in Bouguenais, an ...

) on 15 June 1939,Green ''War Planes of the Second World War:Volume Seven'' 1967, p. 146. with a similar order for two of the competing design from

SNCAM Société nationale des constructions aéronautiques du Midi (abbreviated SNCAM) was a state-owned French aircraft manufacturer. The company was formed following the resolution of the 1936 general strike of French heavy industry, when the govern ...

, the Dewoitine D.750 following on 26 July.Green ''War Planes of the Second World War:Volume Eight'', 1967, p.23. The SNCAO design, the SNCAO CAO.600 was an all-metal

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 wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

with an

inverted gull wing The gull wing, also known as Polish wing or Puławski wing, is an aircraft wing configuration with a prominent bend in the wing inner section towards the wing root. Its name is derived from the seabirds which it resembles and from the Polish ai ...

and a retractable

tailwheel undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

. The pilot and bombardier/navigator sat in separate cockpits with individual stepped windscreens, with the navigator in the extreme nose and the pilot above the leading edge of the wing. The radio-operator/gunner sat further aft, with his cockpit behind the wing. Power was provided by two

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. While having the same appearance, number of pistons (14) and two-row layout typical of Gnome-Rhô ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating engine, reciprocating type internal combustion engine, internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinder (engine), cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. ...

s.Green ''War Planes of the Second World War:Volume Seven'' 1967, pp. 146–147.

Operational history

The first prototype made its maiden flight on 21 March 1940, being flown from Villacoublay to

Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location I ...

on 31 March. It had completed 35 flying hours by 25 June when the test programme was stopped by the French surrender to Germany. The second prototype, which differed in having the

folding wing A folding wing is a wing configuration design feature of aircraft to save space and is typical of carrier-based aircraft that operate from the limited deck space of aircraft carriers. The folding allows the aircraft to occupy less space in a co ...

s required for carrier operations, was abandoned incomplete, while the first prototype was dismantled and stored until it was finally scrapped following the German occupation of Southern France in November 1942.Green ''War Planes of the Second World War:Volume Seven'' 1967, pp. 147–148.

Specifications

Notes

References

*Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War:Volume Seven Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft''. London:Macdonald, 1967. *Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War:Volume Eight Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft''. London:Macdonald, 1967.

External links

Aviafrance - S.N.C.A.O. CAO-600
{{SNCAO aircraft 1940s French bomber aircraft 1940s French military reconnaissance aircraft

600 __NOTOC__ Year 600 ( DC) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 600 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for ...