SNECMA C.450 Coleoptere

Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Research Aircraft

France | 1959

"Lost to accident, the SNECMA Coleoptere was developed to research vertical take-offs and landing in the post-World War 2 period."

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 11/02/2020 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

French aero-industry has always been at the forefront of aviation, proven through war-winning designs in World War 1 (1914-1918) and revolutionary entries seen during the interwar years leading up to World War 2 (1939-1945). While derailed by the German invasion - and subsequent victory - of 1940, the industry continued to develop albeit at a limited pace. After the war, the monumental rebuilding effort of the war ravaged nation included revitalization of the aviation sector which went on to produce some very successful combat platforms utilized globally throughout the Cold War period. The pinnacle of French fighter design later became the exceptional Dassault "Rafale" multi-role fighter.

Back in the 1950s, amidst a backdrop that included a very real threat from an invading Soviet Union in Europe, the French joined other leading aviation powers in delving into the world of Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft, mainly due to the growing efficiency, power, and reliability of turbojet technology. The concept behind the technology was related to fast-reacting interceptors not requiring the use of traditional airfield runs or associated facilities. Instead, these "tail-sitting" fighters remained at-the-ready, responding to inbound threats in short order.

For the French, the result of the work during this period became the SNECMA C.450 "Coleoptere" - a prototype VTOL air vehicle of which only one was ever completed and tested.

The Coleoptere was preceded by the SNECMA C.400 "Volant" which was essentially a series of test beds. The "aircraft" were of largely cylindrical form housing the turbojet with the pilot's cockpit added to the tip. The design sat on its "tail" with four castor-wheeled legs allowing for limited ground-running and support. The entire arrangement was quite utilitarian in appearance but, for the purposes of research, it fit the bill for its time.

Based in the wartime German BMW 003 turbojet, the SNECMA "Atar" engine in play was a dimensionally larger, and subsequently more powerful, version of the enemy design. Indeed, the name "Atar" was derived from the German facility at Reichenbach - "ATelier Aeronatiques de Reichenbach". Like the Americans and Soviets, the French also benefitted from former German aeronautical engineers coming to work for them in the post-war world.

Appearing like something out of a 1950s Science Fiction magazine, the Coleoptere certainly had a unique appearance about it: the fuselage emerged from an oversized cylindrical shroud that housed the turbojet engine. As in the C.400, the C.450 fitted four wheeled landing gear legs at its extreme rear and emanating from the smallish triangular vertical tailfins. The cylinder - known technically as an "annular wing" (essentially an unbroken, wrap-around surface) - was smooth all around its run with the fuselage jutting out from the barrel shape to form the forward section containing the single-seat cockpit. The pilot sat in an ejection seat designed to tilt in relation to the aircraft's horizontal axis - the crewman seated traditionally when the aircraft was at rest (due to the tail-sitting nature of the design) and facing the nose when in horizontal flight. It was intended that, as a VTOL aircraft, the C.450 would take-off and land vertically while general flight would be accomplished in a traditional, forward-moving way - all relying on the single Atar turbojet engine.

While the Atar EV (101E) axial-flow turbojet engine came from SNECMA, the whole of the airframe form was constructed by the specialists of Nord Aviation. The engine provided up to 8,200lb of thrust. Structural dimensions included a length of 26.3 feet and a span of 14.9 feet. Diameter of the aircraft reached 10.5 feet. Aspiration for the air-breathing turbojet was via a pair of intakes found alongside the forward fuselage near the cockpit.

Work on the Volant technology demonstrators was begun in 1956 and the C.450 Coleoptere achieved powered lift-off in 1958 followed by a true first-flight on May 6th, 1959. Eight flights involving the C.450 were accomplished by test pilot Aguste Morel - with inherent deficiencies in the design approach soon showing through (namely in control/handling). During testing, the aircraft achieved a recorded altitude of just 2,625 feet and it was during the ninth flight, intended to transition to a pseudo-horizontal flight phase, that the aircraft became uncontrollable - the test pilot electing to eject (safely though injured) at 492 feet. This resulted in the destruction of the only airframe completed for the project. A proposed second flying airframe never materialized.

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Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the SNECMA C.450-01 Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Research Aircraft.

1 x SNECMA Atar 101 E5V turbojet engine developing 8,160lb of thrust.
Propulsion

497 mph
800 kph | 432 kts
Max Speed

9,843 ft
3,000 m | 2 miles
Service Ceiling

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the SNECMA C.450-01 Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Research Aircraft.

1
(MANNED)
Crew

26.4 ft
8.05 m
O/A Length

14.8 ft
(4.51 m)
O/A Width

10.5 ft
(3.20 m)
O/A Height

6,614 lb
(3,000 kg)
MTOW

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the SNECMA C.450 Coleoptere family line.

C.450 "Coleoptere" - Base Project Designation.

C.450-01 - Prototype; single-example (lost during testing).

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the SNECMA C.450 Coleoptere. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 1 Units
Contractor(s): SNECMA / Nord Aviation - France

[ France ]

Relative Max Speed

Hi: 500mph

Lo: 250mph

Aircraft Max Listed Speed (497mph).

Graph Average of 375 MPH.

Era Crossover

Showcasing Aircraft Era Crossover (if any)

Max Alt Visualization

Production Comparison

1

36183

44000

Entry compared against Ilyushin IL-2 (military) and Cessna 172 (civilian) total production.

MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

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Aviation Timeline

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WWI

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Postwar

Modern

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Image from the Public Domain.

Mission Roles
Some designs are single-minded in their approach while others offer a more versatile solution to airborne requirements.

X-PLANE

Recognition
Some designs stand the test of time while others are doomed to never advance beyond the drawing board; let history be their judge.

Going Further...
The SNECMA C.450 Coleoptere Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Research Aircraft appears in the following collections:

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