[WWIIish] Dassault Ouragan

[Phaelen Bleux]

Dassault M.D.450 Ouragan
Following WWII, France found its aircraft industry devastated by war and occupation. It had produced very few propeller driven aircraft, let alone having the chance to explore jet propulsion. Designer Marcel Dassault was eager to re-establish the French aviation industry, and in 1947 designed the first all-French jet fighter, the Ouragan (Hurricane). The design was eagerly accepted by the French government, with production occurring in 1948 and the first flight in 1949. An initial order for 150 Ouragans was placed, and they type entered service with the L'Armee de l'Air in 1952 (replacing the British de Havilland Vampire). The Ouragan served until 1961, when it was replaced by the Dassault Mystere IV.
The Ouragan was also operated extensively by the Indian (104 planes) and Israeli (75 planes) air forces. The Indian planes were called Toofani ("Hurricane" in Hindi). The Ouragan saw combat with both these nations, in 1961 with the Indian Air Force against the Portuguese colony of Diu, and with the Israeli Air Force in 1956 with the Suez Crisis and again in 1967 in the Six-Day War. Israel then sold their remaining Ouragans to El Salvador in 1973-78. These aircraft were used again in combat in the Salvadoran Civil War of 1980-1992.
The Ouragan has a crew of 1. The plane uses 500 gallons of jet fuel per hour at routine usage. A full load of fuel costs $170; ammo for the autocannons costs $120. Historical range was 572 miles (280 miles on a combat intercept mission).

Dassault M.D.450B Ouragan
Subassemblies: Sealed Light Fighter-Bomber chassis +3; Heavy Fighter wings +2; 2 Medium Weapon wingtip fuel pods +1; 3 retractable Wheels +1.
Powertrain: 5,004-lb. thrust turbojet; 330-gallon Self-Sealing fuel tank [Body and Wings] plus two 119-gallon Self-Sealing fuel tanks [Pods] (Fire 13); 2,000-kWs batteries.
Occ.: 1 CS
Cargo: 10 Body

Armor
All: 2/3

Weaponry:
4xLong Aircraft AC [Body:F] (125 rounds each).*
4x1,250-lb. Bombs [Wings:U].
*Linked.

Equipment:
Body: Medium range (10-mile) radio transmitter and receiver, autopilot, navigation instruments, IFF, bombsight, ejection seat. Wings: 2 1,250-lb. hardpoints each.

Statistics:
Size: 35'x43'x14' Payload: 4.14 tons Lwt.: 8.71 tons
Volume: 272 Maint.: 38 hours Cost: $27,042
HT: 7. HPs: 165 Body, 180 each Wing, 75 each Pod, 15 each Wheel.
aSpeed: 584 aAccel: 6 aDecel: 15 aMR: 4 aSR: 2
Stall Speed: 122 mph. Take-Off Run: 857 yards. Landing Run: 995 yards.
gSpeed: 383 gAccel: 19 gDecel: 10 gMR: 0.5 gSR: 2
Ground Pressure: Extremely High. No Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:
Historical wing area was 256 sf. Loaded weight was decreased 4% to the historical. Design aSpeed was 628 mph. Internal fuel tankage was taken from the Mystere, which was essentially a swept-wing Ouragan. Sources differed as to whether there were 2,000 lbs. of hardpoints or 5,000 lbs.; the latter value was chosen because it better matched the historical loaded weight. The design turbojet only produces 5,000-lbs. of thrust. Historical values were used for all calculations and substituted above when available.

Variants:
The M.D.450A featured a slightly different engine. 50 built.
The M.D.450R was to be a reconnaissance version. 1 built.
The Barougan with experimental rough-field version with low-pressure tires and a brake parachute for use in Algeria. 4 built. 2 ultimately converted back to the Ouragan standard.
The M.D.450-30L was a single prototype with air intakes on the sides of the fuselage and two 30mm DEFA autocannons.
The M.D.452 Mystere II was essentially a swept-wing version of the Ouragan. It did, however, feature a larger power plant (6,173-lb. thrust) for a top speed of 646 mph. Wing area was increased to 326 sf (High-Agility Heavy Fighter Wings), and loaded weight 16,424 lbs. Armament was two 30mm DEFA 551 fixed-forward autocannons. aAccel 7.5, aMR 6, aDecel 25.