The SNCASE SE-3101 or Sud-Est SE-3101 was an early,

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

with twin tail rotors. Only one was built.

Design and development

The SE-3101 is an early, experimental helicopter, developed by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

aviation pioneer

Henrich Focke Henrich Focke (8 October 1890 – 25 February 1979) was a German aviation pioneer from Bremen and also a co-founder of the Focke-Wulf company. He is best known as the inventor of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, Fw 61, the first successful, practical, ...

. The helicopter is probably the first French example to have tail anti-torque rotors. It has a single main rotor and a similar layout to many modern helicopters, apart from its use of a double tail rotor. These are mounted with their axes at 45° to the horizontal and with 90° between them, the drive shafts faired within a

V-tail The V-tail or ''vee-tail'' (sometimes called a butterfly tail or Rudlicki's V-tailGudmundsson S. (2013). "General Aviation Aircraft Design: Applied Methods and Procedures" (Reprint). Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 489. , 9780123973290) of an aircraf ...

-like rear structure. They drive three blade, compressed wood airscrews of diameter. The three blades of the main rotor each have a steel spar and are fabric covered; rotor diameter is The

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 ...

of the SE-3101 is an uncovered, rectangular cross-section, steel tube structure. An Mathis G4R

flat four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine or boxer engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the box ...

engine is mounted within the fuselage, immediately below the main rotor and behind the pilot, who is provided with some instrumentation and is sheltered by a flat windscreen. The aircraft has a fixed, wheeled

tricycle undercarriage 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 ...

, assisted by a small tail skid. First flown on 15 June 1948, development of the SE-3101 led to the Sud-Est SE-3110 and the single tail rotor SE.3120, though none of them entered production.

Aircraft on display

* Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace,

Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune features Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hosts the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Museum). A very ...

: The sole SE-3101, ''F-WFDQ''

Specifications

References

{{SNCASE aircraft Single-engined piston helicopters 1940s French helicopters SE-3101 1940s French experimental aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1948