Sud Aviation

Société Nationale de constructions Aéronautiques Sud-Aviation, usually known as Sud Aviation, was formed on 1st March 1957 with the merger of Sud-Est (SNCASE or Societe nationale des constructions aeronautiques du sud-est) and Sud-Ouest (SNCASO or Societe nationale des constructions aeronautiques du sud-ouest). These had been formed by the nationalisation and merger of small companies into regional groups prior to the Second World War. As a result Sud Aviation remained a nationalised company and was wholly owned by the French government.

One of the new company’s first projects was the continuation of the Caravelle jetliner, which had been developed by Sud-Est. This made its maiden flight on 27th May 1955 and would enter service in 1959. It would prove to be a successful short and medium range aircraft with 280 being produced. Despite this success focus would move away from the design during the 1960s as the company began to develop a successor, the Super-Caravelle. The new design was a medium range supersonic transport which won a competition against similar designs from Nord Aviation and Dassault which was specifically designed not to compete with transatlantic designs. In November 1962 this would be merged with the design of the Bristol 223, under an agreement with the British Aircraft Corporation which would lead to the Concorde.

Also, during the early 1960s Sud Aviation would also rise to prominence in the field of helicopter design. As the company had already produced a number of designs, including the Alouette II, the first production design to use a gas turbine engine rather than a piston engine, it hoped to build on this by producing designs for a range of roles and size requirements. The first of these was the Super Frelon which was a large design that broke the helicopter speed record on 23rd July 1963, attaining a speed 217.7mph. During 1963 the company would also start development work on a medium sized helicopter for the French army. This would become the Puma, which was to be the best selling helicopter in Europe during the 1970s. The final design it developed would be the Gazelle light observation helicopter. Work on this began in 1966 and it would also go onto break several helicopter speed records. It would also lead to an Anglo-French agreement, signed in February 1967, which would allow Westland to produced both this and the Puma whilst also giving Sud Aviation a 30% share in production of the Lynx.

During the 1960s work had continued with BAC on the Concorde project and on 2nd March 1969 the first prototype, produced at Sud Aviation’s Toulouse site, made its maiden flight. This aircraft would then break the sound barrier on 1st October the same year. Following on from this the design would enter service in 1976.

In 1970 Sud Aviation would be merged with Nord Aviation and SEREB (Societe d’etude et de realisation d’engine balistiques) to form Societe Nationale Industrielle Aerospatiale (SNIAS). This would later become known as Aerospatiale.