The Dassault Mercure, one of the rare attempts by the French aircraft manufacturer to produce an airliner, made its first flight in 1971. Similar to the Boeing 737 but faster, only 11 were produced for Air Inter, a victim of the oil crisis and its less versatile short-haul status ©Dassault Aviation

An animated video from the 1960s explaining how the second and third stages of the ‘Diamant A’ rocket work to enable the deployment of the A-1 satellite, or ‘Astérix’, into orbit. © Ecpad

Throughout its long career, the Caravelle was not confined to short- and medium-range service. Several Caravelle 10B3s were modified by the manufacturer at the request of Sterling, which operated a number of Caravelles on regular transatlantic routes between 1970 and 1973.

I’d like to thank the UK team for working together with us to bring this marvellous project to life 🇨🇵🇬🇧

The Nord 2200 was a carrier-based aircraft fighter aircraft developed by SNCAN in response to a 1946 French Navy programme. It flew for the first time on 16 December 1949, but was not selected and was never produced in series.

In 1897, following his studies at the ‘Institut de Chimie Appliquée’, the Peruvian Pedro Eleodoro Paulet Mostajo became the first person to test a liquid-propellant rocket engine on a test bench in a Parisian laboratory. The thrust measured was one kilonewton.

Happy Bastille Day to you all! The Patrouille de France and their AlphaJets flying over the marvellous Mont Saint-Michel in 2019. © Patrouille De France (PAF)

A 1938 advertisement for the Caudron C.440 Goéland. In my opinion, it is one of the most unjustly overlooked French aeroplanes. It was, in fact, one of the most widespread and high-performing commercial aeroplanes of the late 1930s to the early 1950s, with 1,702 units produced.

A map showing the countries that operated "Caravelle", either on passenger routes or for cargo. For an aircraft produced in small numbers (282) and belonging to the first generation of civil jets, this is very impressive... If I’ve forgotten any, please let me know 😅

A ‘Mirage III.C’ in flight in the early 1960s. The III.C variant was designed for fighter and interceptor roles. It was a truly magnificent aircraft. © Ecpad

Air France promotional poster for the introduction of the Caravelle on 5 May 1959 on the network... In the end, it was 6 May... © Air France

The "Caravelle" No. 2 prototype, ‘F-WHHI’, at Saint-Louis-Lambert Field, Missouri, during its promotional tour of North and South America in 1957. © ESSO AIR WORLD

the 25-wing configuration :

The Ecquevilly "Multiplan" was an aeroplane built between 1907 and 1908, designed on the principle that ‘the more wings there are, the better it flies’. After numerous attempts, during which the number of wings increased from 6 to 7 and then to 25… It never left the ground.

The S.Poite ‘Type-3’ was a low-wing monoplane designed for tourism, built from metal in 1931. The glide ratio of this aircraft was quite remarkable: it reached 15.4, which, for a powered aircraft intended for practical use, was an impressive achievement. Its fate remains unknown.

The Vuia N°1 was a aeroplane designed in France by the Romanian inventor Traian Vuia. Completed in 1905, it made its first flight in 1906. It was the first aeroplane to fly in front of an public. Its achievements were also widely reported in the press, as the project was not a secret.

‘Hommage à Blériot’ is a painting by Robert Delaunay from 1914. This work is part of the Simultaneism movement and pays tribute to the aviator Louis Blériot, the first man to fly an airplane across the English Channel, by depicting several aeroplanes and the Eiffel Tower.

The Hurel-Dubois HD.31 at take-off. This was a prototype transport aircraft based on the concept dear to Hurel-Dubois, the high aspect ratio wings. It made its first flight in 1953.

The Morane Saulnier MS 430 was a 2-seater training aircraft developed in 1937 on the basis of the MS 406 fighter. As its engine was considered underpowered, a re-engined version, the MS 435, was ordered but was never delivered due to the Second World War. © Ecpad

DC-7c “AMOR” was a heavily modified French version of the American airliner, which entered service in 1966. Its role was to provide support and telemetry tracking during the testing & launch of ballistic missiles. It is worth noting that it was possible to smoke a cigarette during the tests. ©Ecpad

Built in 1910 by Louis Schreck, the Diapason was a strange machine with a lyre-shaped wing. In 1911, fitted with a more powerful engine, it finally took to the air quite easily, however, it flew only by ground effect and was unable to gain altitude...

The first draft of the ‘SNCAC NC.1080’ fighter project, dating from February 1946, featured an air intake situated directly in front of the cockpit, with the pilot looking through it to see ahead. I must admit that I do not really understand the point of such an arrangement...

The SNCAC NC.1080 was a prototype French carrier-based fighter built in 1949. Despite its attractive appearance, it was considered extremely unstable and, after numerous modifications, it crashed on 7 April 1950, killing test pilot Pierre Gallay, which brought the programme to an end.

A charming toy version of the Latécoère 521, designed by JML (Jouet Magnin Lyon) in 1935. The Latécoère 521 was a giant flying boat from the mid-1930s.

The impressive armament of the 1945 "Arsenal VB-10" heavy fighter, featuring four 20 mm cannons and six machine guns in the wings.

A ‘Donnet Denhaut’ seaplane taking off in 1918 from the base on Île Tudy in Brittany. © Jacques de Thézac - Musée départemental Breton.

Ignition test of the ramjet on the Nord 1500 ‘Griffon II’ experimental aircraft in 1958. It broke the world speed record over 100 kilometres in a closed circuit in 1959 piloted by mr André Turcat and could fly at Mach 2.19. © Onera

Ramjet and turbojet aircraft. The Nord 1500 "Griffon" and the Leduc "0.22"

In 1911, Louis Blériot received an order from Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe to build an cabin aeroplane capable of carrying four passengers and a pilot: the Blériot XXIV "Limousine". Note the conical windscreen in front of the pilot.

Archive footage of the Polish Prime Minister’s arrival in England aboard an Air France Dewoitine D.338 for a meeting with the British government in 1939. © British Pathé