It is bloody difficult, also for myself!
Even with registration I don’t get results myself!
Pictures taken in France which I found looking for mountain soaring airports.

That also being a tough challenge!

Cockpit reminds me of something homebuilt, maybe a few lines of DNA in it...

Searching for this aircraft has taken me to aeroplanes I'd rather not have known ever existed.............

It's the Colomban MC-30 that I was reminded of but engines and tail arrangement notwithstanding, the cockpit, though similar, is different!

It does look a bit like a Cri-Cri that's taken a beating with the Ugly Stick. ? P-19 Glimmering?

Cri-Cri on steroids perhaps

Can you clarify P-19 Glimmering?
Perhaps a link?
I cannot find any aircraft under that name.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....4464fc04a.jpeg
at Sisteron Airport 4 years ago

Typing in F-WLDE, I get pictures of Oscar Wilde...

Sorry, a contrived joke. Like a P-38 Lightning, only half the aircraft and rather dim.

I have tried the following sites with no success:
https://www.aviafrance.com/recherche.php

http://www.antonakis.co.uk/registers/France.txt

https://immat.aviation-civile.gouv.f...ef_liste.html#

I think I saw somewhere that F-Wxxx is for prototypes, but with numerals following the W.

Not merely a prototype, but pseudonymous? The ultimate spy plane?

This is the hardest challenge of my time on here :ouch: - all sorts of weird aircraft turn up but nothing quite like the challenge - the Cri-Cri is probably closest but still nothing like this horror

I have to ask - did it really fly?

"I think I saw somewhere that F-Wxxx is for prototypes, but with numerals following the W."

Flightless Parrot: F-Wxxx is used for flight testing, after which the registration reverts to a "normal" sequence, but still keeping the last three. So we need to see if there is a regular registration (eg: F-BLDE or others, but that was a Jodel). I've looked but find nothing.

What a challenge!

Laurence

As it appears to be a homebuilt, I looked for F-PLDE. Naught, not even on DGAC register. Perhaps it was a prop for a film or something.

Thank you all for your suggestions and clarifications.
This might become unsolvable.

Did it Fly?
I guess so

P19 Glimmering is the best suggestion so far!
I was thinking about the Cri-Cri Obesity.

I have send an email to the Sisteron soaring club if they can find it in their visitors logs.

Has anyone explored the search path of the engines?
I think it are no diesels but Hirth 3702.
Hirth

This is the link to Google Maps sisteron, where you can find the photos.

Google maps

The French government site allows searching with a wildcard, so I've done F-%LDE and come up with nothing appropriate (on that site, % is the wildcard character).

Aerodrome Sisteron is the site of two companies into electric flight. Electravia provided the batteries for a Cri-Cri that flew the Channel/Manche. E-props makes propellers optimised for electric powered aircraft; two firms with splendidly transparent names, but a Google search produces no images that look anything like this creature. Anyway, our object seems to have upward pointing exhaust stacks, apparently six per nacelle. Is that plausible?

EDITED: I wrote this before seeing the engine identified: they're intakes, if it is the Hirth, which looks likely.

With no new reactions or suggestions posted for 1 day, I think we have to acknowledge our defeat.
I am in contact with the aeroclub in Sisteron. When they might come forward with additional info I will of course let you know.

Sadly I have to declare OH.

Jeez!! I thought YOU knew Bear...............................

It's defeated us all................... :(

Props looked like Warp-drives. Had one on the Rotax 912 powered Merlin GT.

They don't feather, do they? That thing'd flip on it's back like a Liverpool virgin if an engine stopped!

No, Ground adjustable pitch only.

My entries rarely take more than a couple of hours, but lest the thread lapse into inanition, here's something.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....367ffce98d.jpg

G'day FP.

I'm gonna lock my undercarriage answer in as the Renard Epervier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renard_Epervier

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotax_912

In the Marie Celeste Challenge I thought I'd follow the possible Rotax clue - and came up with the list as per the link - after 20 minutes systematically going though I lost the will to live................

You would have been better of looking at Hirth:
Hirth 3701

That list is shorter.
So will lead you faster to nowhere.

The statutory 24 hours having passed, I can now reveal that it took Noyade 28 minutes to identify the Renard Espervier (the 2bis, to be precise).

Over to Noyade to find something between the impossible and the ludicrously obvious, as the last two have evidently been.

Thanks FP.

A tough ask, but here goes....


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....8f3d221440.jpg

First clue.
This a 4 engine aircraft. Two tractor, two pusher.

The Fokker F-32 fits the bill but not the photo.

General question:
Am I correct that there has never been a Naca cowling developed for aft engines?

Dornier Do-K3

OH if correct, I've no idea what all has been handled.

you can do a search in the thread.
But in the 3? Years it is running I have never done a search myself and remember only 2 cockpit doubles:
Yours and the Starship.
Edit the name that flying machine thread is running (restarted) also 3 years ago.
I do not recall doubles here.

That's him. :ok:
Open House declared.

Not many of these ever built.............

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....f8ab4b10b7.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1be78fde1c.jpg
and not many pictures either...............

Fleet model 2 could be a match?

Go East (or West) young man - I think they only built a couple..................

Land of the Rising Sun?

No but a lot closer ............................. pre WW2

Chinese Naval Air Establishment Chiang Hung floatplane....
Open House...if correct

At last!!! Sycamore does it! I could only find a couple of pictures so it was hard to keep u p interest

OH called

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....8eeb0b2519.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....9a7e6cab6d.jpg

Somewhat newer:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....3be3056c7c.png