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The name
of French engineer René Leduc is strongly associated with the
world's first development of the "ramjet" engine. In
France in the 50's, he built the first and only aircraft in
the world using the "Athodyd" principle (aero thermodynamic
duct, later known as "ramjet") as the sole propulsion
system.
René Lorin, who first published the principle in the technical
review "Aérophile" in 1913, invented the ramjet in France. Unfortunately,
this visionary engineer could not finalize his ideas, and could
not build his invention. Twenty years later, René Leduc, another
Frenchman, again re-invented this same device. René Leduc had
begun his aviation work at the Louis Breguet's aircraft factory,
working mostly on the Breguet 27. This self-educated engineer
understood very early in his career the limitations of the propeller
engine and tried to find a solution. Initially, he imagined a
jet engine, operating with a cycle of admission, power, and cyclic
relaxation through a valves system. He requested a patent in 1930
for this device, three months before Paul Schmitt the German engineer
who obtained governmental help, enabling him to develop this invention,
known nowadays under the name of "pulse-jet". Let us
note in passing that this device had already been presented in
the previous century by Charles De Louvrier; another Frenchman.
Not being satisfied by the limitations of the "pulse jet" engine,
René Leduc imagined a system in which only the streamline flow
makes it possible to obtain the necessary compression, and thus
obtaining a push force, or thrust, with this type of engine. He
requested a patent for this invention in 1933, and then discovered
the publications of René Lorin. He tried to contact him, but he
learned that René Lorin had been deceased for a few months. René
Leduc always paid homage to the work of his predecessor.
René Leduc obtained a small French government contract, which
allowed him to carry out tests on a small aero-thermodynamic duct
of 30-mm in diameter. After months of efforts, he was able to
demonstrate the practical application of this theory during an
official presentation in June of 1936. On that day, in front of
representatives of the official services, this noisy invention
was proven, showing that it could truly obtain a thrust force.
Thus, years after Rene Lorin who had been the first to describe
this type of engine correctly, René Leduc was the first to make
it work.
Then, René Leduc received a French government order for a plane
using this type of engine. Accordingly, the Leduc 010 project
was established under market number 407/7 (the last figure indicates
that the command was signed in 1937). René Leduc was then a lowly
engineer, employed by Louis Breguet in his Villacoublay factory.
He accepted the challenge with the assistance of Mr. Breguet,
and could thus begin the construction of the first French jet.
Unfortunately, the war delayed considerably the manufacturing
of this plane. The Breguet workshops had to flee the Paris area,
and the Leduc airplane was transferred to Toulouse. It was almost
completed there, but the bombardment of the factory of Montaudran
destroyed part of it, luckily perhaps, because it prevented the
Germans from studying this aircraft. Work began again after
the liberation, but because of difficulties in obtaining supplies,
work progressed slowly.
© Aérostories,
2001
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