The SE 210 Caravelle was the first short/medium-range jet airliner, produced by the French Sud Aviation firm starting in 1955 (when it was still known as SNCASE ). It is generally considered to be the first truly successful jet airliner design, as the earlier De Havilland Comet had suffered a series of in-flight break-ups that led to it being withdrawn from service, and the Avro Jetliner was cancelled due to over commitment. The Caravelle would go on to be one of the most successful jetliners for a number of years, sold throughout Europe and even a run of 20 in the United States.

On October 12 1951 the Comité du Matériel Civil (civil aircraft committee) published a specification for a medium range aircraft, which was later sent to the industry by the Direction Technique et Industrielle. This called for an aircraft carrying 55 to 65 passengers and 1000 kg of cargo on routes up to 2000 km with a cruise speed about 600 km/h. The type and number of engines wasn't specified. Various design studies for aircraft in this category had been underway since 1946 by several of the leading French aircraft manufacturing organisations, but none had the financial power to start construction.

Response from the French industry was strong, with every major manufacturer sending in at least one proposal, with a total of 20 different designs were received. Most of the proposals used all-turbojet power, although Breguet entered a number of designs for both turbojet and turboprop types; among these was one for an Atar-powered tri-jet to be developed in association with the SNCA du Nord and a turboprop type, all known as Br. 978. Hurel-Dubois entered several turboprop designs based on a narrow fuselage and shoulder mounted wing similar to many regional prop liners. Proposals from the SNCA du Sud-Ouest included the S.O.60 with two Rolls-Royce Avon RA.7 engines, with two smaller Turbomeca Marbores as auxiliaries. SNCA du Sud-Est returned a number of designs from the X-200 to X-210, all of them pure-jet.

After studying the various entries, the Comité du Matériel Civil cut the list to three entrants on March 28 1952: the four-engined Avon/Marbore S.0.60, the twin-Avon Hurel-Dubois project, and the three-Avon Sud-Est X-210. At this point Rolls-Royce started offering a new version of the Avon that could develop 9,000 lb (40 kN) thrust, making the auxiliary engines on the S.O.60 and the third engine on the X-210 unnecessary.

The Comite requested SNCASE re-submit the X-210 as a twin-Avon design. In doing so they decided not to bother moving the remaining engines from their rear-mounted position; most designs mounted the engines under the wing where they can be mounted on the spar for lower overall weight, but SNCASE felt the savings weren't worth the effort. This turned out to be a benefit to the design, as the cabin noise was greatly reduced. The revised X-210 design with twin Avons was re-submitted to the SGACC in July 1952.

Two months later the SNCASE received official notification that its design had been accepted. On July 6 1953 the SGACC ordered two prototypes and two static airframes for fatigue testing. Sud's design licensed several fuselage features from De Havilland, a company Sud had dealings with for several earlier designs. The nose area and cockpit layout were both taken directly from the Comet, while the rest of the plane was locally designed.

The first prototype was rolled out on April 21 1955, and flew on May 27, the second followed a year later on May 6 1956. The first prototype had a cargo door on the lower left side of the fuselage, but this was removed the second prototype for an all-seating arrangement. The first order was from Air France in 1956, followed by SAS in 1957. That year Sud-Est merged with Sud-Ouest to become Sud Aviation, but the original SE naming was retained. More orders followed, mainly triggered by presentations on air shows and demonstrations to potential customers. The Caravelle was certified in May 1959 and entered shortly after service with SAS and AF.

Several models were produced over the lifetime of the production run, as the power of the available engines grew and allowed for higher takeoff weights. By this time most of Sud Aviation's design department turned to a supersonic transport of the same general size and range as the Caravelle, naturally naming it the Super-Caravelle, however this work would later be merged with similar work at the Bristol Aeroplane Company to produce the Concorde.

In total 279 Caravelles of all types were build, with Sud Aviation's break-even point at the 200 mark. The Caravelle was thus the first airliner design to make a clear profit, something that would not be matched again until the 1970s.

World Airline Fleets News reported in September 2004 that the last operational Caravelle, a model 11R, registration 3D-KIK, was lost when it crashed at Gisenyi airport, Rwanda on 28 August 2004. It was flying from Kinshasa to Goma in the DR Congo when for unknown reasons it attempted to land at the neighbouring Gisenyi airport, whose runway was too short for the aircraft.

Powerplants

Caravelle 10B - Two 64.4kN (14,500lb) Pratt & Whitney JT8D-9 turbofans.
Earlier Caravelle versions (Mk I, IA, III and VI) were powered by two 48.9 to 56.0kN (11,000 to 12,600lb) thrust class Rolls-Royce RA.29 Avon turbojets.

Performance

Caravelle 10B - Max cruising speed 825km/h (445kt). Range with max payload 2650km (1450nm), range with max fuel 3640km (1965nm).

Weights

10B - Operating empty 30,055kg (66,260lb), max takeoff 56,000kg (123,460lb).
Earlier series Avon powered versions max takeoff weights range from 46,000kg (101,413lb) for the Mk III to 50,000kg (110,230lb) for the Mk VI-R.

Dimensions

Caravelle 10B - Wing span 34.30m (112ft 6in), length 33.01m (108ft 3.5in), height 8.72m (28ft 7in). Wing area 146.7m2 (1579sq ft).
Caravelle Mks I, IA, III and VI same except for length 32.01m (105ft 0in).
Caravelle 12 featured 3.21m (10ft 7in) fuselage stretch over the Caravelle 10.

Capacity

Caravelle 10 - Flightcrew of two pilots and one flight engineer. Max passengers 100 at five abreast in a high density layout. Typical accommodation for 91 passengers in a mixed class arrangement. Maximum payload 9100kg (20,600lb).

Production

282 production Caravelles built between 1958 and 1972.