MD 450 Ouragan
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Les Matériels de L'Armée de L'Air #1
Author: Sébastien Guilemin
Publisher: Histoire & Collections
ISBN: 2-915239-89-4
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 66
The history of Dassault is an interesting one, starting with the very name. Taken from the name given to him while in the French Resistance, Marcel Bloch started the Dassault company in 1946 and immediately began design of their first jet fighter aircraft. Gaining inspiration from the US F-84, this first project had a similar layout with a nose intake, straight wing, and tip tanks. Interest was there, but no orders, so Dassault decided to forge ahead with the design as a private venture. Given the designation MD 450, the prototype started construction in 1948. Before the first flight, the French ordered three prototypes, vindicating Dassault's move. The first aircraft took to the air on February 28, 1949, and the Ouragan became France's first indigenous production jet fighter.
As the first French jet fighter, the Ouragan is a perfect subject for the first title in the Les Matériels de L'Armée de L'Air series by Histoire & Collections. This book sets the standard for all the other volumes, and for those not familiar with the series, this includes plenty of photographs and illustrations. The text provides a good written coverage of all the prototypes (of which there were many), as well as a general aircraft description. The majority of the book, though, focuses on the operational record, and this section is broken down by unit. Each unit gets a written description of the operations, coupled with photos and illustrations that highlight the colorful markings worn by French aircraft in the post-war period. The Ouragan was also exported, and the book covers the operations by Israel, India, and El Salvador.
The downside is that the book is written in French, so it may not be as accessible as one written in English. Still, with plenty of online dictionaries and translators, one could make a pretty good go at reading the text, if French is not a language known. The photos and color profile illustrations also more than make up for the language limitations, and as such this is very likely the best reference available on the Ouragan. This title, as well as others in this series, is available from Casemate Publishing.