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Old 8th Jan 2023, 22:18
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WHBM
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
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The article diplomatically omits that the aircraft was sunk by an attack on the Dornier works by RAF Mosquitos !

The big French flying boats had the most appalling bad luck. Shortly after this loss at Dornier the other remaining SE-200 production was destroyed in a further attack on their Marseilles home. Meanwhile its close competitor, the Latecoere 631, also lost their one taken to Dornier in the same attack (is that still under water ?), several more were lost immediately post-war in serious crashes which led Air France to abandon the type, they were put into storage at their factory near Bordeaux, and were all destroyed when the hangar roof fell in after an unexpected substantial snowfall.

The Bordeaux works was later used to build the two French competitors to the big hovercraft many will remember that ran from Dover to Calais. One was lost even before delivery when the works were destroyed by fire, this nearly got the second one as well, but that never worked properly and eventually was given up.
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