Reviving Dassault’s Post-War Bird

A flying club near Lyons, France hopes to have a vintage French trainer flying again in time for the Paris Air Show.

At a flying club near Lyons, a 12-year effort to preserve a bit of aviation history is about to take wing. Members of the club in Corbas have been working since 1991 to restore a Dassault Flamant, a version of the first aircraft built by Marcel Dassault after World War II.

The effort is all the more remarkable for the volunteers undertaking it. None are mechanics. "We had no technical skill in the field," said member Thierry Gibaud. In February, Aviation Maintenance went to see the team's work.

Dassault based his Flamant on the BA.30, a twin-engine light transport studied during the German occupation of France by the Société Bordeaux Aeronautique in Talence. The man whose name was Marcel Bloch before World War II initially built two models, according to French aviation historical Web sites: the MB.301 as a navigation and bombardment trainer, and the MB.303 as a transport/flight trainer. But fitted with 375-hp. Lorraine Bearn 6 D engines, the aircraft were underpowered. Dassault replaced the Bearns with 580-hp. Snecma 12S engines, designating the refit the MD.315. It first flew on July 6, 1947 from the Bordeaux-Merignac facility where Dassault still builds Falcon jets and Rafale and Mirage fighters.

At the government's request, Dassault split manufacture of the Flamant among four nationalized companies. Dassault coordinated manufacturing, general assembly, development, flight tests, and delivery of the aircraft.

Dassault built four versions: the MD.315; the MD.311 bombardier/navigator trainer (which was fitted with a glass nose); the MD.312, which first flew on April 27, 1950, fitted with dual controls for its transport missions and flight training, and the 312M for maritime missions. A total of 325 Flamants were built, according to the company.

The MD.312 with serial number 189 first flew on October 7, 1952. It served until April 29, 1983 as a military trainer/VIP transport. Then the club acquired it. It hasn't flown since.

In 1991, then 24-year-old Gibaud came up with the idea of rebuilding the aircraft. He launched and led the project, creating the association "Ailes anciennes de Corbas" (literally, "Corbas's old wings"). He usually works as an education counselor in a local high school.

The team spent five years working on the aircraft outdoors without the right documentation. This made the work slow and largely impractical. They then spent four years building a facility suitable to the work. The aircraft was moved inside in February 2000, at which point the rebuild really began.

"We did not start until we had a hangar, a complete documentation, and the right tools," Gibaud told AM.

The association got a lot of help in assembling the drawings, maintenance procedures, parts catalogs, and repair manuals the volunteers would need to bring the Flamant back to life. The French air force provided most of it, much of which Gibaud said almost perfectly matches the aircraft. The few French owners of other Flamants also helped, and offered advice and tips from working on their own aircraft.

A long period of disassembly and inspection followed. After years in the open, the MD.312 was damaged by hail and corrosion. The team also had to remove a lot of bird nests.

Assembly of inspected parts began in January 2001. The team started with the empennage and worked its way forward. The inexperience of the volunteer mechanics showed, Gibaud said. "We certainly spent two or three hours where skilled maintenance technicians would have spent one hour."

Outside help was welcome. A former Dassault sheetmetal worker helped replace part of a wing spar that was in poor condition. Repairs and replacements are complicated by the fact that Flamant parts are not easily transferable from one aircraft to another. Still, Gibaud said, the club brought another Flamant as a source of spare parts.

In March 2001, the association took delivery of new engines and propellers acquired from an owner of several Flamants. The Snecma 12T-06s, with 12 cylinders in a reversed-V configuration, are each rated at 650 hp. They should help move first flight up a year, Gibaud said. The original ones, which required long overhauls, will serve as spares.

Finding money to buy the engines and propellers was challenging. Each team member chipped in some. So did local authorities, Lyon-Saint Exupery airport, and Dassault. The sale of T-shirts, caps, and other products printed with Flamant logos made up the difference. The new engines were installed in August 2002.

Late in the rebuilding process, the team decided to change all three landing gears after tests revealed hydraulic leaks. Three landing gears, wheels, and brakes have been purchased from another collector, but the replacements have delayed restoration, and may prevent the goal of flying the Flamant to the next Paris Air Show in mid-June.

Gibaud told AM "first flight of the rebuilt aircraft should happen before this summer." Provided, of course, the French civil aviation authority, the DGAC, inspects it and issues an airworthiness certificate in time.

In deciding on a paint scheme, the team's main concern was in capturing the public's attention at air shows. Although the MD.312 was not used in the French-Algerian colonial war, "we chose the Algerian war livery because it had brighter colors," Gibaud said. The team added nose art of the dwarf Grumpy from the Walt Disney movie "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

The flight deck was originally dark blue. The air force changed it to black. "We tried to paint it in blue again but finally did not like it very much," he said. "So we got back to black."

The only modern instruments in the club's aircraft are radios and a transponder. "Using a GPS for navigation in flight and removing it when on the ground will allow us to keep the flight deck authentic," Gibaud said.

The MD.312 is certified for a two-person crew, but "we will fly it with three persons on board for safety reasons," Gibaud said. The cabin will be fitted with five seats, but "French regulations call for five occupants as a maximum in a vintage aircraft, and these five should be crew or ground operations staff only."

While a lot of people helped in rebuilding the Flamant, four or five persons were most active, spending weekends in the hangar for several years. They were motivated to work because "we really want to see this aircraft flying," he said. He fears motivation will drop once the aircraft flies and the work changes from restoration to ongoing maintenance. Another concern is keeping the pilots’ skills honed. "Flying some 30 hours a year would be fine," Gibaud said.

Financing could come from air shows, Gibaud told AM. "We have already started but still have some public relations work to do."

Flamant Specifications:

• Wingspan: 66 feet (20.2 meters)
• Overall length: 41 feet (12.6 meters)
• Maximum take-off weight14,100 pounds (MTOW):(6,410 kilograms)
• Maximum speed: 205 knots (380 km/hr.)
• Range:650 nautical miles (1,200 km)