I’d expect the B-1 rather than the B-2 for now though
2 Likes
there were two made? I- death star explosion
How do you even fly it, how do you even see where youre going, what the hell lol
So in reality there were more than two prototypes but only two are still visible today at the Bourget Museum (they are the best known models anyway).
First there was the Leduc 010, to be honest I don’t even know how you get into the plane, as for whether flying with it was possible, the plane flew but it seems that it was not a pleasure
Then the Leduc 021 and 022, these two aircraft have a very clear improvement in the cockpit with very good visibility towards the sides (even if towards the front it remains disastrous), these were apparently simpler to fly and were rather good aircraft
It should be noted that with more than 700 flights on Leduc aircraft, there have only been 4 accidents (including one on the ground during re-rolling) and that none of these accidents killed any pilots.
But generally speaking, the most beautiful Leduc aircraft are those that were not built, there were surprising designs like twin-engine interceptors or supersonic heavy bombers.
this is like something out of The Incredibles or something, now I really want to know what the cockpit looks like, seems like the pilot… laid down in there?
what were they smoking when they made that first one, looks like a submarine.
Pretty sure the pilot did lay down, but eh that ain’t the craziest prototype ever tbh
It was basically just a ramjet with wings
Yes, the pilot was more or less lying down in the cockpit. On the other hand, we don’t have many sources on what the cockpit might have looked like (apart from the photo below).
oh dear god that looks uncomfortable, strong pucker factor.
My suggestion got passed to the devs. I’m beyond honoured.
Vive la France. ✊
4 Likes
Vive la France
2 Likes
Thanks for doing the suggestion. I really want this plane :-)
1 Like
So do I, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it. XD
1 Like
There’s this former french fighter pilot who also does youtube videos, and in one of his videos he asks his own father how it was like to pilot the mirage IV, and if you understand french he not only gives a very good explaination on how the mirage IV works, but he is also an amazing storyteller:
1 Like
The “Confedération amicale des Ingénieures de l’Armament” has a neat webpage talking about the specifications and history of the mirage IV, complete with some very high quality footage of the Mirage IV A in it’s early flights at the end.
Both this french blog and this italian blog has a very comprehensive list of the many countermeasures suites employed by the various Mirage IV’s, from the RWR Thomson-CSF Type BF that covers from E to J bands, the jammers ARAB-2B Agacette (I band) ARAD-31A Agasol (conters SA-6) and Mygale (counters SA-3), the CT-51A jammer pod (counters fang son AA and SA-2), Alkan F1A chaff/flare dispenser. Mirage IV P added the option of 2 additional phimat chaff dispensers, eventually upgraded to 2 Thomson-CSF/Bofors AMAL 1B BOZ-103 Chaff flare dispensers, which combined with the Alkan F1A allowed the mirage IV P to carry a total of 700 chaff and 150 flare cartridges, besides the upgraded Thomson-CSF Serval RWR and the improved Thomson-CSF TVM-015 Barem I band jammer and the Barax multiband jammer.
And here’s another video, this time from le Conservatoire de l’Air et de l’Espace d’Aquitaine, which goes into schematic detail on the features of the mirage IV and operational realities:
1 Like
I couldn’t do that much research even if I tried. XD
The problem is that it’s pretty hard to get a hold of primary documentation, as the french like to keep to themselves unless asked. So you end you having to rely on testimonies from people who worked on them, second hand information from experts on random blogs, or period pictures, and it’s hard to get all of them to agree. Some sites claim that the mirage IVA could fly with 6 1200 kg/2645 lbs bombs or 4 AS 37 martel anti radiation missiles, yet i can’t find ANY picture with either configuration…
At least the 16 x 400 kg bombs is fairly easy to prove, as there are pictures of the mirage IVa with 8 x 400kg bombs + 2 x 2500 liter /2 x 2000 kg drop tanks, and you can tell that 2 of those bombs use the same hardpoints and thus can be swapped with the RATO canisters.
2 Likes
Slightly dissapointed that it wasn’t in the event, to be honest, but not surprised at all, much like for the British V bombers.
There are still these theoretical loadouts roaming around for the internet, but those are hardly a valid source… Merely gives an idea of what it could be used for in the game. And with the test of anti-radiation missiles, this could almost be made viable.
1 Like