Sud-Est SE 100

infobox Aircraft
name =Sud-Est SE 100
type =Fighter
manufacturer =Sud Est, Citroën (planned)


caption =
designer = Pierre Mercier & Jacques Lecarme
first flight = 29 March 1939
introduced = Late 1940 (planned)
retired =
status =
primary user =French Air Force (planned)
more users =
produced =
number built = 1
unit cost =
variants with their own articles =The Sud-Est SE 100 was a French two-seat, twin-engined fighter which first flew in 1939. Mass production was planned to begin late in 1940 but the Fall of France prevented this.

Development

The origins of the SE 100 predate the creation of the Sud-Est (SNCASE) company in the nationalisations of 1937. It was designed by Pierre Mercier and Jacques Lecarme at Lioré et Olivier, initially designed the LeO 50. Underpowered by two Gnome-Rhône 14M engines, the design was recast to use the more powerful Gnome-Rhône 14N-20 and -21 engines, the same used in the Lioré et Olivier LeO 451 bomber, and renamed the SE 100. The aircraft was of conventional all-metal construction, mid-wing layout. As with most French twin-engined aircraft of the era, the engines were handed, one airscrew rotating clockwise and the other anti-clockwise, to minimise torque. The aircraft had a twin tail. In production models it was planned to redesign the wing to use components from the LeO 451 wing to ease production. The fuselage was short in appearance, with a long nose and a very short tail, the cockpit being connected to the gunner's position aft by a windowed corridor. The undercarriage was of the nosewheel type, rarely used in French aircraft of the 1930s, with the aft wheels were fitted right aft, retracting into the tail rather than the wings or engine nacelles as was conventional. The aircraft was fitted with four Hispano-Suiza HS.404 20 mm cannon in the nose and one in the gunner's post.

The first prototype of the SE 100 flew on 29 March 1939 at Argenteuil and a number of necessary changes were identified during the tests. It was destroyed in a crash in April 1940. The aircraft proved to be around 100 km/hr faster than the Potez 631, the French Air Force's current twin-engined fighter, and production was authorised.

While the tests were proceeding, a second prototype, incorporating the changes, the most obvious of which was the suppression of the windowed corridor in the fuselage and its replacement by additional fuel tanks, was being built. The armament was increased to six cannon in the nose, two in the gunner's post and one additional cannon in the floor of the gunner's post. As the second prototype was being built, the Citroën company was preparing to mass produce the aircraft at their Paris works, deliveries planned to begin late in 1940.

At least two paper variants were studied, the SE 101 powered by Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines and the SE 102 powered by a different version of the Gnome-Rhône 14N.

pecifications

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

ref=Breffort & Jouineau, "L'Aviation française de 1939 à 1942", Tome 2.
crew=2
capacity=
length main=11.80 m
length alt=38 ft 8½in
span main=15.70 m
span alt=51 ft 6 in
height main=4.28 m
height alt=14 ft 0½ in
area main=33 m²
area alt=355 ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main=
empty weight alt=
loaded weight main=7500 kg
loaded weight alt=16,500 lb
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=
engine (prop)=Gnome-Rhône 14N-20/21
type of prop=14-cylinder air-cooled two-row radial engine
number of props=2
power main=806 kW
power alt=1,080 hp
power original=
max speed main=580 km/hr
max speed alt=360 mph, 313 knots
max speed more=at 6500 m (21,300 ft)
cruise speed main=499 km/h
cruise speed alt=310 mph Green 1961, p.71.] , 270 knots
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main=1300 km
range alt=810 mi, 700 NM
ceiling main=
ceiling alt=
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
guns=
**4 x 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon in nose
**1 x 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon in rear gunner's post
bombs=
avionics=

References

Bibliography

* Breffort, Dominique & André Jouineau, "L'Aviation française de 1939 á 1942. Tome 2." Paris: Histoire et Collections, 2005. ISBN 2-915239-48-7.
* Green, William. "War Planes of the Second World War: Volume One Fighters".London: Macdonald, 1961. ISBN 356 01554 2.