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SNCASO SO.4000

1951 COLD WAR X-PLANE

SNCASO Sun. 4000 History

After World War II, France had already focused on the design of "pure jet" bombers in 1945, by which time all piston bombers had to be abandoned. The turbojet is here to stay, and the future of the fighter jet is in its hands.

The French realised they had to rebuild at frenetic speed the once-proud local aviation industry, which lagged far behind its allies in the US and UK.

It was in this context that France conducted its first design studies, while the French Air Force was looking for a supersonic heavy jet bomber capable of reaching speeds of nearly 560 miles while carrying more than 10,000 pounds in stores The new design will be powered by two proven, off-the-shelf British Rolls-Royce 'Nene' turbojets. In March 1946, two French aerospace groups, SNCAC and SNCASO, were awarded development contracts for such designs, and each would produce two airworthy prototypes to justify their respective designs.

When SNCAC tracks his NC. 270, SNCASO continued its "SO.4000" (M.1 and M.2 were also contracted as experimental model test aircraft).

in SO. The fuselage of the 4000 is oval, slender, with a smooth profile and elegantly tapered ends. The cockpit is located at the absolute front of the fuselage and accommodates two crew members, while the stern is covered with a circular vertical fin that deeply supports its two horizontal planes. The two-seater cockpit will include ejection seats (with survival armor), full pressurization for high altitude flight, and an advanced navigation/radar/communication suite. The main aircraft, mounted near and amidships, were swept back due to the bomber's expected high-speed performance.

The twin-engine side-by-side setup (consisting of 2 Rolls-Royce Nene 102 turbojets, each delivering 5,000 lbs of thrust) sucks through fairly narrow air intakes along the front side of the fuselage, long-running ducts reach engine inside. The bomb bay (which can hold up to 11,000 pounds of bombs) is located in the belly of the aircraft, while the fuel depot is mounted above.

The landing gear configuration is an "unconventional" tricycle (fully retractable) arrangement, with the main legs not only doubled under the fuselage, but in a straight line (tandem). As usual, the nasal bones are retracted under the cockpit floor.

During construction, the original two-seater cockpit was transformed into a back-to-back seating arrangement, which is now covered by a "bubble-like" canopy. The nose section was modified in this way to allow the now shaded nose cone to contain the radar fit.

The final bomber shape is intended to be SO. The 4000's design will eventually feature defensive armament in the form of two cannon turrets, each with 2 x 15mm MG151 automatic cannons mounted on rear-facing wingtip pods.

These will be controlled from the cockpit radar by a second crew member, but have never been developed or installed on the completed airworthy prototype.

The future of this French-inspired jet bomber looked bleak in 1947, when it was decided not to go into mass production of the design. The M. 1 glider form took to the air on September 26, 1949, while the M. 2 recorded its maiden flight earlier that year on April 13. so.

The 4000 had to wait until March 5, 1950, when its heavy and fragile landing gear was damaged during a rolling test on April 23. The maiden flight finally arrived on March 15, 1951, but the landing gear again proved to be a weak point in the design and was damaged again on landing.

In addition to this unique flying experience, the SO. 4000 never took to the skies and was eventually abandoned forever.

More thoughts on SO base design. The 4000 was maintained, including a special reconnaissance version (designed to eliminate bombing capabilities entirely), a proposed "all-weather fighter" (interesting given the size of the bomber itself), and a possible switch to a Rolls Royce" Avon" or Armstrong Siddeley "Sapphire" turbojets add extra power to a once promising design.

While French industry is "ready, willing and capable", France's post-World War II defense budget says otherwise.