If Rafale now designates the rival of the Peugeot 408, this name is also that of planes! During the presentation of its SUV-coupé at Le Bourget, Renault made the surprise of exhibiting a Caudron-Renault Rafale C460. This device, unearthed in the USA, officially joins the Renault collection. Explanations.
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Renault bought this plane in the United States and will restore it to fly again.
Géraldine Gaudy – L’argus
The Renault Rafale has no more secrets for you! You know everything (or almost) about the new SUV-coupé, future rival of the Peugeot 408 and 3008. So, as much to warn you that in this article, it is not about cars but about aviation. On the occasion of the presentation of the Arkana’s big brother, last June, the editorial staff of L’argus was also interested in the aircraft exhibited alongside it: the Caudron-Renault Rafale C460.
Renault buys Caudron and launches its first aircraft
« Louis Renault had a passion for all means of transport. He got into cars, of course, but he also made trains and planes. explains Etienne Henry, director of the 3D experience at Renault. In the 1920s, Mr. Louis decided to join forces with the Caudron brothers, aircraft manufacturers, to supply them with engines. In 1933, he bought the Caudron company and created the Caudron-Renault company. From there, will be born several devices including a series called Rafale. In 1934, it consisted of the C450 which quickly evolved into the C460 version fitted with a retractable landing gear. This monoplane, designed by engineer Marcel Riffard, set many records especially in the hands of aviators like Hélène Boucher, Maryse Bastié, Madeleine Charnaux or Maryse Hilsz…
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Pilot Hélène Boucher was an ambassador for Renault cars.
Renault
A plane that we had to (re)find!
To make the link between the automobile and aviation, on the occasion of the world premiere of the Rafale at the Paris Air Show, Renault went in search of a device. But, the Caudron-Renault Rafale are becoming rare, not to say have disappeared. It is thanks to word of mouth, and in particular to Etienne Henry’s father, himself a pilot, that the manufacturer’s teams managed to locate a replica ” relatively close to reality says Etienne Henry. This is the only copy of C.460 referenced in the world to date. The other known copy of Caudron-Rafale is a C.450 jealously preserved at the Air Museum.
Unlike the C.450, the C.460 has a retractable landing gear.
Géraldine Gaudy – L’argus
The replica of the Caudron-Renault C.460 flies. But, it is a very complicated plane that only one pilot is able to fly.
Géraldine Gaudy – L’argus
Caudron was bought by Renault in the early 1930s.
The model unearthed by the Renault Classic teams in February 2023 passed peaceful days on “ Flabob airport, near Riverside, 90 km from Los Angeles tells us Laurent Aliphat, creative director of marketing content at Renault. The plane, property of the local flying club, is however not unknown to radar screens. We know that it was built in 2008, according to period photos and drawings, and that it carried out demonstration flights in the skies of the Ile-de-France region during the 2009 Paris Air Show. All that remained was to convince the owners to sell it…
An epic routing journey
After tough negotiations led by Etienne Henry, the deed of sale was signed. Renault sent its teams to the United States to see the configuration of the device and find out ” how to take it apart and put it back together explains Laurent Aliphat. In March 2023, the C.460 leaves the State of California in the direction of France. A journey that has not been easy. Laurent says that the propeller of the freighter on which he had embarked broke and that it had to be transferred to another ship, during the crossing. Finally, it was not in Le Havre that the Renault teams received their property, but in the port of Antwerp in the Netherlands, on June 4. Routed to Le Bourget (93), the plane ” barely been refreshed ” concedes the director of creation of marketing content at Renault. It could be installed 6 days before the official day of the presentation of the SUV, June 18, 2023.
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The Renault Rafale and the Caudron-Renault Rafale C.460 together.
Renault
An airplane in the Renault Classic collection
The Renault-Caudron Rafale C.460 is now the property of Renault Classic, which has beautiful and big ambitions for it. One of the first projects will consist of securing the device, which has always been known to be dangerous. The teams of the diamond brand, in collaboration with a Dijon company, will also repairing a Renault 6-cylinder engine (instead of the current Czech engine) and graft it into the aircraft so that it can fly in its “original” configuration. ” The idea was not to acquire a static object. We really wanted to go to the end of the story “, continues Laurent Aliphat. The recovery of all documents is in progress to obtain the certificate of airworthiness in France and in Europe. ” There is still a little way to go before the beautiful story continues to be written he concludes. Once its restoration is complete, the Caudron-Renault C.460 will join the Renault Classic collection in Flins (78) “ before perhaps finding a more beautiful case for it concedes Laurent Aliphat. According to Etienne Henry, the plane should be at Rétromobile in February 2024. To be continued…
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Renault Classic is making every effort to allow the Caudron-Rafale C.460 to fly in its “original” configuration.
Renault
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2023-08-21 19:37:18
#Renault #Caudron #Rafale #C.460 #small #story #big #vidéo
