Dassault Balzac V

History of Dassault Balzac V

Even in the face of the total devastation wrought by the German invasion of World War II (1939-1945), the French aviation industry recovered fairly effectively in the postwar years for some of the most impressive developments in French aviation Foundation. Cold War era.

Even during the war, French aeronautical engineers continued to work on various aircraft-related projects, some realized in Europe in the years following the end of World War II, while others had matured for quite some time.

Later, after the smoke of total war had cleared, French industry began to focus on more advanced concepts. Dassault Aviation, a group formed in 1929 under the leadership of Marcel Dassault himself, managed to survive the war and introduced the MD 315 transport aircraft as early as 1948. However, the biggest boost in the early Cold War came with the introduction of the popular Phantom III interceptor in 1956. This first-class platform entered service in 1961, eventually producing 1,422 prototypes, serving a group of foreign operators during their time.

Air service (some continue to fly with Pakistan).

With the Mirage III airframe, Dassault engineers began developing vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) prototypes in the early 1960s. It was decided to use a combined propulsion method, where one main turbojet would provide the power for forward motion, while some smaller "lift" engines would provide the power needed for hovering. A 5,000-pound Bristol Siddeley Orpheus 3-Series engine became the solution for early and eight Rolls-Royce RBs. 108 elevator motors are used to meet the latter requirement.

Overall, the general appearance of the Phantom III fuselage has been preserved, including the forward cockpit, single vertical stabilizer and delta wing plan. However, the fuselage had to be widened to accommodate the new internal engine layout (engines and associated ducts), and much of the fuselage was actually redesigned compared to the original Mirage III series.

The main propulsion engines use the existing side-mounted air intakes, shown as semi-circular openings with fixed thrust cones on both sides of the cockpit. Lift engines require separate air intakes in their respective locations, and these are met by retractable components designed by Rolls-Royce. During forward flight, these engines automatically faired so as not to disrupt the overall airflow of the aircraft.

The ship's fuel supply allows about twelve minutes of hover time.

Upon completion, the aircraft lost the Phantom III designation and became Dassault's "Balzac V", the only prototype's official name eventually being "Balzac 001".

Ground operations began in late July 1962, and tethered tests were conducted in October of that year. At this point, the landing gear remains fixed for convenience. On October 18th, the first cordless flight was made, followed by several more cordless flights until the end of the year, when the aircraft was finally fully retracted to test the traditional horizontal flight envelope - the first such flight was recorded in 1963 March 2. On March 18, the aircraft completed the first vertical-to-horizontal flight conversion test and landed on the runway in a conventional manner. On March 28, the horizontal and vertical landing was successful.

Modifications introduced between 1963 and 1964 added a unique short-fire capability through the installed deflectors - which Balzac now demonstrates.

The plane program continued until January 10, 1964, when the plane capsized while hovering and landed on its vertebrae. Pilot Jacques Pinier eventually died of his injuries. The cause of the accident was a loss of control due to the automatic stabilization system.

Although the Balzac fuselage was damaged and the test pilot was killed, it was salvaged, delaying the program until 1965.

Balzac completed several additional evaluation flights before an accident in September 1965 threatened the project again. At this point, Balzac was part of the VTOL technical exchange between the French and the Americans. USAF pilot P.E. Neale went awry during a low hover maneuver.

He managed to eject before the engine completely misfired causing the fuselage to crash, but he died on impact with the ground due to the ejection below the minimum recommended altitude. In contrast to the first accident, this one was designed to inflict harm on the pilot and the aircraft - thus ending the Balzac program once and for all.

Dassault should continue further research on VTOL aircraft with its new product Mirage IIIV. Two of these types were eventually built, and these were largely based on work already done by Balzac (including its independent lift/thrust engine arrangement).

First flown on February 12, 1965, the aircraft was developed according to the guidelines of the new NATO VTOL aircraft requirements, but was not adopted until the end.

Despite the loss of life and aircraft - always the unwritten price paid for groundbreaking development of aircraft - Balzac provided the French with important insights into VTOL flight. For war planners, the future is always filled with supersonic fighter jets with inherent helicopter capabilities.

Although this wasn't really real until the introduction of the British Harrier jets, aircraft like the French Balzac pushed the concept forward and ensured that the casualties of such plans were never forgotten and eventually flew at full speed form realization.

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