Nord 1500 Griffon
The Nord 1500 was the prototype of a ramjet-powered fighter aircraft designed and built in the mid-50s 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). Another innovation on the aircraft was the use of "Canard" surfaces and a very thin elevon equipped delta wing.
With André Turcat at the controls, the Griffon I made its maiden flight on September 20, 1955. It reached a Mach speed of 1.3 in this configuration, based on the Atar 1016-21 turbojet, giving 3.800 kgs of thrust, with afterburner.
The second prototype, the Griffon 01 flew for the first time on January 23, 1957 in Istres, piloted by Michel Chalard. It quickly appeared that the air intake was too small, limiting the maximum speed to approximately Mach 1.3. The diameter of the intake was thus augmented from 52 to 68 sq decimeters.
Again with André Turcat, it established a world record on a 100 Km closed circuit at an average speed of 1.643 Km/h on February 25, 1959.
The aircraft reached a top speed of Mach 2.19 at 15.000 m while maintaining a 100 m/sec climb with the same pilot in October 1959, thus proving the soundness of the basic design.
On the Griffon II, the initial engine had been replaced by an Atar 101E-3 giving 3,500 kg of thrust, in conjunction with the Nord ramjet giving 7.000 kgs. The interior diameter of this ramjet was 1.50 m.
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