Sud Aviation Vautour

what is it?

The Sud-Ouest Aviation (SNCASO) S.O. 4050 Vautour (French for vulture) is a French jet-powered multirole aircraft. The Vautour served as a bomber, ground attack, reconnaissance and interceptor aircraft. Developed and manufactured by aircraft company Sud Aviation, the Vautour was operated by France's Armée de l'Air, having been originally designed in response to a requirement for a jet aircraft for bombing, low-level attack and all-weather interception.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 jet engines · 15.1 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 1,106 km/htop speed
• range 5,400 kmwithout refuelling
• size 21 tmax take-off weight
• built 149made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 74 years ago, in 1952.
• 🏎️Top speed is 8.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 15.1 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 4 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🌍Range of 5,400 km: 30× Amsterdam to Brussels.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.7× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

jet: Gas turbine pushing air out the back (turbofan or turbojet): fast and high-flying.

spec sheet

first flight

1952-10-16

introduced

1958

retired

1979

status

retired

number built

149

role

multirole aircraft

origin

🇫🇷 France

makers

Sud-Aviation, Sud-Ouest

engines

2× SNECMA Atar 101E-3

crew

1

length

15.6 m

wingspan

15.1 m

height

4.9 m

max take-off weight

21 t

top speed

1,106 km/h

range

5,400 km

ceiling

15,200 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.