Wings of fame
Posted on Samedi 9 mai 2009 at 16 h 24 min and filed under Magazine.The Caravelle boosted France’s reputation abroad and symbolized the carefree jet age of the 1960s. By Marc Branchu
Fifty years after its first flight for Air France, the Caravelle remains a legend, named for a poem by José Maria de Heredia about the conquistadores—a departure from the usual make and model number. It was not a particularly imposing design—current jumbo jets are twice its size—and was only modestly successful, with just 282 airplanes sold. Yet its shape was unique, with graceful lines, engines mounted at the rear, ovoid windows and retractable stairs. It all began in 1951, at a time when the Americans and British dominated the aeronautics industry. The airlines were all waiting for the De Havilland Comet, the world’s first commercial jet, which was about to come off the assembly lines. This revolution was coming from Britain, a fact that didn’t sit well in the country of Clément Ader and Louis Blériot.
A French design On October 12, 1951, French authorities challenged French aircraft manufacturers to design a plane that could carry 60 passengers over 2,000 km at 800 kph. The project submitted by the Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Sud-Est (SNCASE) in Toulouse was selected from 25 candidates. The first French jet plane was under way. But it wasn’t entirely French-made: part of the tail fin and ailerons were Italian, while the engines (Rolls- Royce) and the nose cone (inspired by the Comet) were British. The plane was assembled in Toulouse, with sections delivered from plants in Nantes, Saint-Nazaire and Marignane. The team of engineers led by Pierre Satre worked with a single goal in mind: to design the most reliable jet possible. They learned from the mistakes of the Comet, which had experienced one setback after another.
Star attraction On May 27, 1955, two years and over 20,000 drawings after the project launch, a prototype took off from the Toulouse-Blagnac airport. Shortly afterward, Caravelle was the star attraction at the Air Show at Le Bourget, displaying its innovative aft-mounted engines, which reduced noise and vibrations in the cabin, and perfect aerodynamic shape. Air France was eager to operate this twin-engine jet in Europe and the Mediterranean basin, as it would cut the five-hour flight from Paris to Rome (aboard a Vickers Viscount prop plane) to a mere two hours. In 1955, the airline ordered 12 aircraft (and would ultimately operate 54), followed by orders from Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). The Caravelle then took off with an Air France crew for a huge American tour encompassing 34 stopovers and 60 demonstration flights, all perfectly on schedule. Despite its popular success, however, it turned out to be a commercial failure: United was the only airline to order planes (some 20 or so).
“A great work”Yet the Caravelle became an ambassador for France during the post-war years. In June 1958, General de Gaulle chose it as presidential plane and praised it regularly, as he had done during his visit to a SNCASE plant (renamed Sud-Aviation): “You are part of a great work… the fast, reliable, sweet Caravelle, which is soon to fly to all the countries of the world, representing France, demonstrating what the country can accomplish when it wants to.”
Easy to fly On May 6, 1959, the jet was introduced into the Air France network. Its flight range (2,400 km), capacity (80 passengers in the first version) and cruising speed (800 kph) made it the perfect complement to the Boeing 707, which had just started flying long-haul routes. Air France celebrated the event with a new slogan: “The two best jets on the world’s longest network.” The flight crews loved the elegant vessel, despite its faults: “My first impression when I stepped into the Caravelle cockpit was of an indescribable chaos of instruments,” recalls Gérard Feldzer, a former flight captain, now director of the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace. “But this aircraft was so easy to fly, with a virtually guaranteed soft landing, because of the ‘ground effect’ created by the very low wings. And there was a window in the aft toilets.”
An entire era It was an unequivocal technological success, yet was soon replaced by the more efficient, better equipped new Boeing 727 and 737 aircraft. Sud-Aviation (later Aérospatiale, then Airbus, then EADS) didn’t pursue the design, focusing on the Concorde instead, and then the development of the medium-haul widebody aircraft, the first Airbus (A300). Air France flew the Caravelle until 1981; Air Inter until 1991. It was an inspiration to singers (Joe Dassin, Hugues Aufray) and filmmakers (The Sucker, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies), embodying the image of 1960s France.
Translation: Elizabeth Ayre, Lisa Davidson et Alexandra Keens
