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The Ongoing Mystery Aircraft Thread Part Deux.

Up until recently, there was only one photo of this curious twin (as far as I know).

Here is a second photo I found the other day.

XR4y4DV.jpg
 
Odd! It looks to have the engines and retractable undercarriage of the Hanriot 232 and the tail empennage of the Hanriot 230. Which might suggest that it was something between the two - but I can't find any evidence that there was such a 'missing link'. And to confound that theory, it seems to be carrying Dutch military roundels. Whatever it is, the designer appears to have applied the principle of wing warping to its fuselage!
 
LeO48

The last aircraft to carry the LeO designation was the LeO 48. This represented a considerable departure for the firm as it was an aerodynamic testbed designed by engineer Pierre Mercier and flown by company test pilot Jacques Lecarme. In early 1937 work was started on a diminutive twin engine aircraft which would become the LeO 48. It was intended to study a new two-seat fighter design (the LeO 49) which had an unusual layout. Construction was begun by the firm at Argenteuil, but final assembly was at the SNCASE palnt at Marignane.The aircraft’s first flight was from Istres on November 21, 1941. Although the test was limited by a malfunction invloving one of the Boysson pumps, the flight did confirm that the wing flaps did work successfully on takeoff and landing. The Italian authorities delayed further test flights until February 4, 1942. On this second flight the aircraft’s landing gear was retracted and Lecarme flew the aircraft to the airfield at Marignane. The next day the aircraft was flown again, but suffered an accident on landing. There were were plans to repair the aircraft and these repairs were 80% complete when the Germans occupied Vichy France thus brining an end to all further aircraft development in France.
 
Apparently the primary function of this design was as a test-bed for 'anti-rafales' measures (side-wind gust protection?) and different methods were proposed, including one with substantial vertical surfaces.

The destruction of the prototype on its third flight ended this project...
 

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pomme homme said:
Odd! It looks to have the engines and retractable undercarriage of the Hanriot 232 and the tail empennage of the Hanriot 230. Which might suggest that it was something between the two - but I can't find any evidence that there was such a 'missing link'. And to confound that theory, it seems to be carrying Dutch military roundels. Whatever it is, the designer appears to have applied the principle of wing warping to its fuselage!
Click to expand...
Whatever it is, it certainly looks French!
 
Hi BG :encouragement:
The BAC204 it is. Still searching for a clearer picture of this "obscure" one-of-a-kind.
Surprise us!!
 
Whilst admitting that this is way outside my sphere of interest, I should be obliged if someone could tell me what the **** JAR/VLA means ???
 
Hi Mike:encouragement:
JAR/VLA stands for Joint Aviation Requirements - Very Light Aerplanes. I am no expert on this subject, but I think this initially was a US/European agreement for certain certification standards for light aircraft and later accepted by many more countries worldwide.
 
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