Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation
SNECMA C.450-01 Coleoptere (France)
Jet-powered VTOL research aircraft, first flown on 6 May 1959. Special features were its annular wing and retractable foreplanes in the fuselage nose.
С.450 на транспортировочной тележке
SNECMA C.450-01 Coleoptere.
Установка С.450 в вертикальное положение при помощи гидроподъемника
SNECMA C-450. The SNECMA Coleoptere is the ultimate development of the C.400 P.1 and P.2 Atar Volant and P.3 VTOL research vehicles. The engine, an Atar 101 turbojet, was developed by the SNECMA company and the airframe constructed by Nord Aviation. This version of the Coleoptere is subsonic but future versions should be capable of supersonic speeds. No details of dimensions, speed and weights have been released. It is expected that by the time these lines are read the aircraft will have made its first flight.
Испытания системы отклонения вектора тяги
Летчик Огюст Морель (справа) и ведущий инженер Пьер Сервант обсуждают результаты первого полета
Установка двигателя в фюзеляж самолета С.450
Газовка двигателя на С.450
Оборудование кабины самолета С.450
Разрушенный фюзеляж упавшего С.450
Basic features of a vertical take-off vehicle with a "cylindrical", or annular, wing.
The principles of flight of the coleoptere.