Nord 1500 Griffon
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The Nord 1500 Griffon was the prototype of a ramjet-powered fighter aircraft designed and built in the mid-1950s by French state-owned aircraft manufacturer Nord Aviation. It was part of a series of competing programs to fill a French air force specification for a Mach 2 fighter. The Griffon actually featured a dual turbojet-ramjet powerplant, with the turbojet enabling unassisted take-offs (ramjets cannot produce thrust at zero airspeed and thus cannot move an airplane from a standstill) and the ramjet producing extra thrust at airspeeds above 1000 km/h (600 mph).
With Major André Turcat at the controls, the Griffon reached a top speed of Mach 2.19 in 1958, thus proving the soundness of the basic design. However, major technical difficulties in developing an operationally reliable ramjet led to the cancellation of the Griffon program to the benefit of Dassault Aviation's Mirage III.
[edit] External link
- Overview of the Griffon program (in French)
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