This aircraft is obviously not still in service, but I was reading some articles about it the other day and it is somewhat of an interesting aircraft to me. The only export success it had was to the IDF/AF. Then again, what better country to take it. If anyone can make a success out of an aircraft, it is the IDF/AF. The Vautour served throughout the 50’s, 60’s, and part of the 70’s as an attack aircraft, bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, and all-weahter fighter. The Vautour IIN was the most capable model. Of the grand total of about 140 Vautours being produced, about 70 of them were the IIN version. The IIN was later renamed II1N when it gained all-moving slab tailplanes. Powered by to SNECMA Atar 101E-3 (-5 on late production II1N’s) which produced 7,715-lb. thrust each (8,155-lb. each on -5). With a top speed of about 685 mph (I have seen 720 mph too though, maybe this applies to the later -5 powered versions) and a range of about 2,000 miles, the Vautour was the primary long-range strike aircraft in the IDF/AF before the advent of the F-4 and to a lesser extent, the A-4. It was armed with four 30-mm DEFA 552 cannons (each with 100 rounds) plus a maximum warload of over 9,000-lb. could be carried in an weapons bay plus four underwing hardpoints. Used to hit airfields and other such targets to great effect during the 1967 Six-Day War, the Vautour proved to be successful and very populer with pilots and crew. It gained its first and last air-to-air victory, when a Vautour shot down an Iraqi Hawker Hunter using his four 30-mm cannons. Now, I am sure many of you haven’t ever heard about this aircraft, but it does have an interesting history, so I thought maybe we could get an interesting discussion on it. Here is a picture for those that want to know what it looks like. Its looks belie its capabilities.
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/1467/Draw/vt-n-67-dr.j…
By: Papa Lima - 31st May 2004 at 15:43
I’ve been waiting for someone else to point you to this site, which has this photo as the opener:
By: LaurentB - 31st May 2004 at 13:38
Hello,
Had a little time to check in my files, and I have found a few pictures of the Vautour II B n°634 that was restored between 1998 and 2002 at Le Bourget Air and Space Museum. I realize that I never took pictures of the finished airframe (I’m more props than jets….), and I am not going to be able to do so soon as the plane is no longer on public display, after it (along with many other airframes) had to make room for the new Concorde received last summer, under the Concorde Hall, that now only houses 2 Condordes and a Mirage IV (there is a lot of room for more airframes, but….).
Anyway, here are the pictures:
The plane after 18 years of outdoor storage:
A couple of months later:
and the finished cockpit two years later:
I thought I had also taken a picture of the bombardier position, but could not find it (if I have ever taken it).
Hope you will like them.
Cheers,
Laurent
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November 3, 2001 at 9:59 pm
