| Flamant | |
|---|---|
 Dassault Flamant at the 2010ILA Berlin Air Show | |
| General information | |
| Type | Military transport aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Dassault Aviation |
| Primary users | French Air Force |
| Number built | 325[1] |
| History | |
| Introduction date | 1948 |
| First flight | 6 July 1947 (MD.315) |
| Retired | 1981 |
TheDassault MD 315 Flamant is a French light twin-engined transport airplane built shortly afterWorld War II byDassault Aviation for theFrench Air Force.
Design work on a twin-engined light transport started in1946 with theMD 303, a development of an earlier project for an eight-seat communications aircraft, theMarcel Bloch MB-30. The prototypeMD 303 first flew on 26 February 1947 powered by twoBéarn 6D engines, designed to meet aFrench Air Force requirement for a colonial communications aircraft. A re-engined version was ordered into production at the new Dassault factory at Bordeaux-Mérignac. The production aircraft was a low-wing monoplane with twin tail surfaces and a tricycle undercarriage, powered by twoRenault 12S piston engines.
Three main versions of the aircraft now namedFlamant (Flamingo in French) were produced. TheMD 315 ten-seat colonial communication aircraft (first flown on 6 July 1947), theMD 312 six-seat transport aircraft (first flown on 27 April 1950), and theMD 311 navigation trainer (first flown on 23 March 1948). The MD 311 had a distinctive glazed nose for its role as both a bombing and navigation trainer.
The first Flamant was delivered to theFrench Air Force in 1949, and deliveries of all versions were completed by 1953.
The aircraft was used for pilot training, navigation training, light transport, maritime surveillance and light ground attack. During theAlgerian War of Independence the plane was used for light attack with theNord SS.11 and AS.11 antitank missiles or with machine guns, bombs, and rockets. The Flamant MD 311s (which were based in Algeria to train pilots and navigators at first) were the first aircraft in history to fire one of the world's first wire-guided antitank missiles in anger, using French Army SS.11 antitank missiles, in a combat experiment to get at fortified caves located in deep mountain gorges, in 1956 from an aircraft based with the special unit of the French Air Force in Algeria, GOM.86. The SS.11 attacks proved extremely successful and the French Army which had provided the missiles, began an experiment which resulted in the world's first attack helicopters firing antitank missiles.[2] The Flamant stayed in service until1981. In addition to the French air force, the Flamant served inCambodia,Madagascar,Tunisia, andVietnam.
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54[7]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
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