Helicopters built in France

Breguet-Dorand "Gyroplane Laboratoire" 1935 An even more significant effort then under way in France was the Breguet Gyroplane, a ... read more ... In 1938, Rene Dorand created the Societe Francaise Du Gyroplane,to develop a new aircraft with ... read more ... Dorand G.II "Gyroplane" 1940 SNCAC NC 2001 1946 The Helicopter Division of SNCAC was established by Rene Dorand and designed and built three ... read more ... Louis and Jacques Breguet were among the first aircraft constructors tobecome world-famous and they were ... read more ... Breguet G.IIE "Gyroplane" 1949 Sud-Est SE.700 1945 During the war, SNCASE worked on an autogyro known as theSE.700, which flew for the ... read more ... This SE.3000 is a development of the German helicopter Fa.223. Incidentally, Professor Focke himself took ... read more ... Sud-Est SE.3000 1948 Sud-Est SE.3101 1946 The purpose of this experimental single-seater was to study the placing of auxiliary rotors intended ... read more ... This helicopter still relied on the twin-tail rotor system used in the experimental SE.3101, which ... read more ... Sud-Est SE.3110 1947 Sud-Est SE.3120 "Alouette" 1952 This three-seater was designed to meet a number of requirements in both military and civil ... read more ... The head of the twin-bladed rotor was designed to move parallel to the aircraft's longitudinal ... read more ... Nord N.1700 "Norelic" 1947 Nord N.1710 1950 The N.1700 was a two-place aircraft; the rotor had two blades with a stabilizer bar ... read more ... SNCAN built two prototypes of this helicopter as the Nord N.1750 Noreife which was a ... read more ... Nord 1750 "Norelfe" 1952 Matra-Cantinieau MC.100 1951 The story of the Aerotecnica helicopters goes back to the original research carried out in ... read more ... The Matra company produced for a young engineer, Paul Cantinieau, a helicopter designed by the ... read more ... Matra-Cantinieau MC.101 1952 Dorand DH.011 1952 The engineer Rene Dorand, of the Societe d'Etudes des Giravions Dorand, developed several designs for ... read more ... Early company interest in the development of rotary wing aircraft led to design and construction ... read more ... Sud-Ouest SO.1100 "Ariel" 1947 Sud-Ouest SO.1110 "Ariel II" 1949 Thanks to the enterprise of a small automobile manufacturer, Turbomeca, which had developed a family ... read more ... Thanks to the enterprise of a small automobile manufacturer, Turbomeca, which had developed a family ... read more ... Sud-Ouest SO.1120 "Ariel III" 1951 Sud-Ouest SO.1221 "Jinn" 1953 The Djinn was the world's first production helicopter to make use of the 'cold jet' ... read more ... This is the first French convertible. It can take off vertically, hover in the air ... read more ... Sud-Ouest SO.1310 "Farfadet" 1953 Sud-Est SE.313 / SA.318 "Alouette II" 1955 Even before flight testinghad been completed, theAlouette II was showing itsabilities as a mountain rescueaircraft ... read more ... This new helicopter, which was brought out as a product of Sud Aviation, first flew ... read more ... Sud-Est "Gouverneur" 1957 Sud-Est SA.316 / SA.319 "Alouette III" 1959 The AerospatialeSA 319A/C Alouette III,manufactured by thecompany known today asEurocopter, has been aspectacular aircraft almost ... read more ... One of the best-known commercial helicopter operators in France, Helicop-Air, has produced the prototype of ... read more ... Helicop-Air L.50 "Girhel" 1959 Sud-Aviacion SE.3200 / SA.3210 "Frelon" 1959 The Frelon is a large helicopter of conventional layout, powered by three shaft-turbine engines mounted ... read more ... Following the collapse of Aerotecnica, Jean Cantinieau returned to France where he joined Matra. There ... read more ... Matra-Cantinieau Bamby 1963 Aerospatiale SA.321 "Super Frelon" 1962 Bravely entering acompetitive marketdominated by Soviet andAmerican designs, the SuperFrelon was a derivative of theoriginal ... read more ... To fill a French armyrequirement for anall-weather medium-lifttransport helicopter, SudAviation (later to become partof Aerospatiale) ... read more ... Aerospatiale SA.330 "Puma" 1965 Aerospatiale SA.341/342 "Gazelle" 1967 The SA 341 Gazelle all-purposelightweighthelicopter began as aproposal for a new observationhelicopter for the French ... read more ... Three months after its firstflight in March 1955 theAlouette II proved thepotential of this great ... read more ... Aerospatiale SA.315B "Lama" 1969 Aerospatiale AS.360 "Dauphin" 1972 The SA.360 Dauphin, which was designed to replace the Alouette III, was first seen in ... read more ... Once it became possibleto relay live picturesfrom helicopters, manybroadcasters rushed to buytheir own machines. Within18 ... read more ... Aerospatiale AS.350 "Ecureuil" 1974 Aerospatiale AS.365 "Dauphin 2" 1975 The twin-engine version of the Dauphin designated SA.365 was flown on 24 January 1975. Based ... read more ... A cabin big enough toaccommodate 24passengers on standardseats is clearly big enough toearn- smaller numbers ... read more ... Aerospatiale AS.332 "Super Puma" 1978 Aerospatiale AS.355 "Ecureil 2" 1979 This is a twin-engined version of the successful AS.350 with the Starflex rotor system and ... read more ... The SA.366G version was developed at the same time as the AS.365N. Designed in response ... read more ... Aerospatiale AS.366G / HH-65A "Dolphin" 1980 Aerospatiale AS.565 "Panther" 1984 The prototype of this military multi-mission development of the Dauphin 2 was first flown on ... read more ... The Horizon system, Helicoptere d'Observation Radar et d'Investigation sur Zone, is operational with the French ... read more ... Aerospatiale AS.532 "Cougar" AEW 1989 Guimbal Cabri G2 1992 The two-seat Cabri G2 light helicopter was designed by Bruno Guimbal, a Eurocopter engineer, and ... read more ...