Alleged Dassault VTOL tailsitter project

[Jemiba]

More than a year ago, a participant of the french aeroforum posted photos of
model of a french tailsitter. This model is a typical desktop model, like those often
used on exhibitions, and it is said to show a Dassault design, although still yet I
couldn't find any evidence for that. Perhaps there's someone, who can identify
this design ?

 

[elmayerle]

It doesn't look familiar to me and it's not covered in the write-up of French v/stol fighter efforts on http://www/vstol.org .

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Agreed Evan. However, it does look remarkably like a Dassault design. Specifically it resembles the Dassault MD550 and the earliest Mirage designs. The MD550 was built in response to a request for a light fighter capable of operating from unprepared runways. Given other French companies were working on tail sitters, I imagine this should be a genuine project, not a fan model.

 

[Jemiba]

No, it's not covered by the vstol.org paper, but it's good to hear, that this site is regarded
as a useful source ! In fact, as another form of publication for this encyclopedia is planned,
we are in the meantime busy with papers about other countries and so updating older papers
had to be postponed.
I see similarities to some Dassault designs, too, and as it probably is a design from the late '50s/
early '60s, thoughts about a tailsitter derivative of, maybe, the MD.550, seem quite logical .
On the other hand, to me it looks also similar to an updated version of the SNECMA design with
cruciform wings, which was intended as an alternative design to the Coleoptere.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Its good to hear its not dead- the site hasn't been updated in years.

There are similarities to the SNECMA design as well, though its obviously missing the ventral fin. Well, at least we agree its French

 

[TinWing]

There are similarities to the SNECMA design as well, though its obviously missing the ventral fin. Well, at least we agree its French

The absence of a ventral fin might indicated that this tailsitter was intended for a conventional horizontal landing?

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Or even for short takeoff and vertical landing... ;D

 

[elmayerle]

Agreed Evan. However, it does look remarkably like a Dassault design. Specifically it resembles the Dassault MD550 and the earliest Mirage designs. The MD550 was built in response to a request for a light fighter capable of operating from unprepared runways. Given other French companies were working on tail sitters, I imagine this should be a genuine project, not a fan model.

Oh, I'll agree. After all, the Nord 1600 Friffon I isn't in the paper either, though it's mentioned in the v/stol section of the AIAA's website and it was the predecessor of the Griffon II. *smile* I've thought of using the Merlin Griffon II to model the Griffon I, can't think of many other uses for a Merlin kit.

 

[hesham]

I think that,


I solve this mystery,may be it was Morane-Saulnier MS.1010,a VTOL
version of MS.1000,and note its early design from the book Les Avions
De Combat Francais I.

 

[Jemiba]

Of course that would be a sensation especially for me and my passion for Morane Saulnier,
but I'm afraid it's not, although the side view shows some similarities. But the MS.1000 had
a wing with a typical heart shaped planform, very different from the unknown tailsitter.
And as long as the list of Morane Saulnier designations and projects isn't really incomplete,
the only trip into the field of VTOL was with the Statodyne designs and this surely isn't one
of them.
But it was good to mentione the MS.1000. Following the method of Sherlock Holmes, we just
have to eliminate all false points and what's still there in the end has to be the truth !

 

[Retrofit]

Could it be an early study of the SNECMA AP519 project, before the adoption of the strange and complex tilting landing gear system (similar with the FW-860 project)?

 

[toura]

HI all
This is from an old"le fana de l'aviation"
Dassault don't know !!!!

 

[Michel Van]

HI all
This is from an old"le fana de l'aviation"
Dassault don't know !!!!

the French text say:
that is model was sell to Jc Carbonel, labeled as "projet VTOL Dassault"
the model is 13 cm long made from metal and wood, it's trailer made from metal
no mark or labels from maker on this professional make model


At Dassault was there perplex about the model because, they no have information about this project