View source for Leduc 0.10

{{Short description|First aircraft flying with a ramjet engine}}<!-- This article is a part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content]] for recommended layout. -->
{{Infobox aircraft
 | name=0.10
 | image=Leduc 0.16 Le Bourget 2007.jpg
 | caption=Leduc 0.10 preserved at the [[Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace]] at [[Le Bourget]]
 | type=Research aircraft
 | national_origin=France
 | manufacturer=[[Breguet Aviation]]
 | designer=[[René Leduc]]
 | first_flight=21 October 1947
 | introduction=
 | retired=
 | status=
 | primary_user=
 | number_built=3
 | developed_from= 
 | variants=
}}
The '''Leduc 0.10''' is a research aircraft built in France, one of the world's first aircraft to fly powered solely by a [[ramjet]].<ref name=jma>{{cite book |last=King |first=H.F. |title =Milestones of the Air |publisher =Jane's All the World's Aircraft Publishing Company |edition =McGraw-Hill |date =1969 |location =New York |page =113 }}</ref>

==Design and development==
Designed by [[René Leduc]] in 1938, it was built at the [[Breguet Aviation]] factory after a protracted, semi-secret construction phase kept at arm's length from German occupation authorities, and was finally completed in 1947. The aircraft featured a double-walled fuselage, with the pilot controlling the aircraft from within the inner shell. The circular gap between this and the outer, cylindrical shell provided the inlet for the ramjet.<ref name=jma/>

==Testing==
It could not take off unassisted ([[ramjet]]s cannot produce [[thrust]] at zero [[airspeed]] and thus cannot move an aircraft from a standstill) and was therefore a [[parasite aircraft]] intended to be carried aloft by a [[Mother ship#Parasite carriers|mother ship]], such as the four-engined [[Heinkel He 274#Abandoned prototypes|AAS 01A & -B]] German-origin designs<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griehl |first1=Manfred |last2=Dressel |first2=Joachim |title=Heinkel He 177 - 277 - 274 |year=1998 |publisher=Airlife Publishing |location=Shrewsbury, UK |isbn=1-85310-364-0 |pages=207–209 }}</ref> or the French-designed [[Sud-Est Languedoc]] four-engined airliners, and released at altitude. Following test flights of the [[Sud-Est Languedoc|SE.161 Languedoc]]/Leduc 0.10 composite, independent unpowered gliding tests began in October 1947. After three such flights, the first powered flight from atop an [[Sud-Est Languedoc|Languedoc]] mother ship was made on 21 April 1949 over [[Toulouse]]. Released in a shallow dive at an altitude of {{convert|3050|m|ft|abbr=on}}, the engine was tested at half power for twelve minutes, propelling the aircraft to {{convert|680|km/h|mph|abbr=on}}.<ref name=jma/>

In subsequent tests, the 0.10 reached a top speed of Mach 0.85 and demonstrated the viability of the ramjet as an aviation powerplant, with a rate of climb of {{convert|40|m/s|ft/min|abbr=on}} to {{convert|11000|m|ft}}, exceeding that of the best jet fighters of the time.<ref name=jma/>

Of the two 0.10s originally built, one was destroyed in a crash in 1951 and the other severely damaged in another crash the following year.  Both pilots survived with serious injuries.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

==0.11/ 0.16/ Third 0.10==
In addition to these, a third aircraft was built, designated '''0.11''' ('''0.16''' in one<ref name=saga>[http://xplanes.free.fr/stato/stato-7.html La saga des statoréacteurs VII. La longue marche vers un avion opérationnel (The story of ramjets VII. The long march towards an operational aeroplane) at xplanes.free.fr] Accessed 24 December 2017</ref> source). Generally similar to the 0.10, it featured a [[Turbomeca Marbore]] I turbojet on each wingtip, to provide better control during landings. This first flew on 8 February 1951, but was converted back to 0.10 standards (and thereafter referred to as Leduc 010 n°03)<ref name=saga/> a few months later after problems occurred, including misting of the pilot's windows, powerplant synchronization, and wing deflection caused by the turbojets.<ref name=jma/> The engines were replaced by inert mass balances. This aircraft flew 83 test flights,<ref name=saga/> and is preserved at Le Bourget.{{Cn|date=January 2021}}

==Subsequent prototypes==
The larger [[Leduc 0.21]] flew from an air launch on 16 May 1953, and the swept wing supersonic [[Leduc 0.22]] interceptor began testing on 26 December 1956 with a [[SNECMA Atar]] turbojet before the program was terminated in 1958.<ref name=jma/>

==Specifications (0.10) ==
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=<ref name=jma/>
|prime units? = met
|crew=two
|length m=10.25
|length ft=33
|length in=7
|span m=10.52
|span ft=34
|span in=6
|wing area sqm=16.0
|wing area sqft=172
|empty weight kg=1,700
|empty weight lb=3,740
|gross weight kg=2,800
|gross weight lb=6,173
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Leduc ramjet
|eng1 kn=<!-- jet/rocket engines -->15.7
|eng1 lbf=<!-- jet/rocket engines -->3,520
|max speed kmh=800
|max speed mph=500
}}

==See also==
{{aircontent
<!-- include as many lines are appropriate. additional lines/entries with carriage return. -->
|see also=
|related=<!-- related developments -->
*[[Leduc 0.21]]
*[[Leduc 0.22]]
|similar aircraft=
*[[Miles M.52]]
|lists=<!-- related lists -->
}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |last1=Buttler |first1=Tony|first2=Jean-Louis|last2=Delezenne |title=X-Planes of Europe: Secret Research Aircraft from the Golden Age 1946-1974|date=2012 |publisher=Hikoki Publications |location=Manchester, UK |isbn=978-1-902-10921-3|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book |last1=Carbonel |first1=Jean-Christophe |title=French Secret Projects |date=2016 |publisher=Crecy Publishing |location=Manchester, UK|volume=1: Post War Fighters |isbn=978-1-91080-900-6}}
* {{cite book |title=World Aircraft Information Files |publisher=Bright Star Publishing|location=London |pages=File 900 Sheet 04–05 |no-pp=true }}

== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* {{Cite web
  |url=http://xplanes.free.fr/stato/stato-2.html
  |website=La saga des statoréacteurs
  |title=Les pionniers
  |date=22 August 2004
  |lang=fr
}}
* test flight footage for Leduc 0.10, 0.16, 0.21, and 0.22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzUJrweHxso

{{Leduc aircraft}}

[[Category:1940s French experimental aircraft]]
[[Category:Leduc aircraft]]
[[Category:Ramjet-powered aircraft]]
[[Category:Breguet aircraft]]
[[Category:Mid-wing aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1947]]
[[Category:Single-engined jet aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear]]