Aviation History – July 25, 1959. This Saturday, July 25, 1959, a terrible air accident will take place: the device known as the Coléoptere C.40 will, in fact, be the victim of a crash on this day. But, fortunately, this accident did not cause any casualties. On the other hand, following this tragedy, the project concerning this device, of which Snecma and Nord Aviation were at the origin, will be stopped and this, in a definitive way…
This flying machine, which took off and landed vertically (therefore not requiring long runways for these maneuvers), was then making its ninth test flight when it accidentally fell, having been unbalanced as part of an exercise: namely to switch from vertical flight to horizontal flight.
If the plane in question, displaying 8.02 meters in length and 4.51 meters in wingspan, with annular wings and a landing gear with four wheels on rods, will be totally destroyed, its pilot, namely the aviator Auguste Morel, will for his part be saved, succeeding, by chance, in ejecting himself from the device in time.
