{"id":4940635,"date":"2026-07-11T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=4940635"},"modified":"2026-07-11T16:36:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T14:36:45","slug":"leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jet That Couldn\u2019t Take Off"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n<p>Imagine a fighter aircraft that cannot take off. It has no way to move under its own power on the runway, no way to build up speed, no way to leave the ground at all. To fly it, you must bolt it to the roof of an airliner, haul it up to altitude, and drop it &mdash; and only then, as the air rushes through its hollow body, does the engine come alive.<\/p>\n<p>This was the Leduc, one of the strangest flying machines France ever built, and one of the first aircraft in the world to fly on the raw power of a ramjet alone. Stranger still was the seating arrangement: the pilot lay flat on his stomach, sealed inside a glass nose cone in the very centre of the engine&rsquo;s air intake, staring out as the airflow howled past him toward the flame.<\/p>\n<p>It was the obsession of one stubborn engineer, Ren\u00e9 Leduc &mdash; and for a brief moment in the 1950s, it looked like the future of flight.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"background:#f5f5f5;border-radius:8px;padding:20px 22px;margin:24px 0;font-size:15px;line-height:1.8\"><strong style=\"font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/strong><br>\n&bull; <strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> Leduc 0.10 &mdash; among the first aircraft to fly on ramjet power alone<br>\n&bull; <strong>Designer:<\/strong> Ren\u00e9 Leduc; a working ramjet demonstrated at the Breguet factory by 1936<br>\n&bull; <strong>The problem:<\/strong> a ramjet produces no thrust at a standstill, so the aircraft could not take off<br>\n&bull; <strong>The fix:<\/strong> carried aloft atop a Sud-Est Languedoc airliner and released at altitude<br>\n&bull; <strong>First ramjet-powered flight:<\/strong> 21 April 1949 over Toulouse (~680 km\/h on half power)<br>\n&bull; <strong>The pilot:<\/strong> lay prone in a glazed nose pod, in the dead centre of the air intake<br>\n&bull; <strong>Final version:<\/strong> the swept-wing Leduc 0.22 reached Mach 1.15 in 1957 before the project was cancelled in 1958<\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A stovepipe with wings<\/h2>\n<p>The ramjet is the simplest jet engine imaginable: no compressor, no turbine, barely any moving parts. It is little more than a shaped tube that uses its own forward speed to ram air inside, where fuel is added and burned. The idea was patented by another Frenchman, Ren\u00e9 Lorin, back in 1913 &mdash; but it had a fatal catch. A ramjet only produces thrust once it is already moving fast through the air. Sitting still on a runway, it does precisely nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Ren\u00e9 Leduc spent decades wrestling with that paradox. He secured a small government grant in 1933, demonstrated a working ramjet by 1936, and won a contract to build an actual aircraft around it &mdash; only for the Second World War to intervene. His prototype was hidden from the occupying Germans, nearly destroyed in a bombing raid, and not flown until years after the war.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;It looked so futuristic that it seemed to have escaped from the pages of a Dan Dare comic strip.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Vegim Krelani<\/strong> &mdash; PlaneHistoria, on the Leduc<\/div><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The plane that had to be dropped to fly<\/h2>\n<p>Since the Leduc 0.10 could not take off, Leduc simply mounted it on a gantry above a four-engined Languedoc airliner. The composite machine would climb together; the little ramjet aircraft would then be released to glide until it was fast enough to light its engine. On 21 April 1949, over Toulouse, the ramjet was ignited in flight for the first time and the Leduc climbed and manoeuvred entirely under its own power, reaching some 680 km\/h on half throttle. The principle had been proven in the most audacious way possible.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=1141841832  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/leduc-010-le-bourget-museum.jpg\" alt=\"Leduc 0.10 preserved at the Mus\u00e9e de l\u2019air et de l\u2019espace, Le Bourget\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The Leduc 0.10: the whole fuselage was the engine, with the pilot in the nose. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i9eY6kj4YAU\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Flying from inside the engine<\/h2>\n<p>Because the entire fuselage <em>was<\/em> the ramjet, there was nowhere ordinary to put a cockpit. Leduc&rsquo;s solution was as bold as the aircraft: the pilot reclined face-down inside a double-walled nose, sealed in a glazed pod at the centre of the intake, with the incoming air flowing around him in a ring. Forward visibility was almost nil, and bailing out was a nightmare no one wished to contemplate &mdash; but it flew.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CzUJrweHxso\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Chasing Mach 2<\/h2>\n<p>The experiments grew more ambitious. The Leduc 0.21 flew more than 250 times and approached Mach 0.95. Then came Leduc&rsquo;s masterpiece, the 0.22: a swept-wing interceptor that finally solved the take-off problem by adding a SNECMA Atar turbojet for the runway, keeping the ramjet for high speed. A jettisonable nose gave the pilot an escape pod at last. In December 1957 it reached Mach 1.15, and it flew more than 140 times &mdash; until it was gutted by a fire while taxiing.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=1967706119  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/leduc-022-le-bourget-museum.jpg\" alt=\"Leduc 0.22 interceptor preserved at Le Bourget\" style=\"max-width:100%;height:auto;border-radius:6px\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The swept-wing Leduc 0.22 could take off on a turbojet, then switch to its ramjet for speed. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Zx-59ivXI9I\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0;border-radius:8px\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The future France walked away from<\/h2>\n<p>The Leduc did not fail on its merits. France was pouring money into the wars in Indochina and Algeria, and a far more conventional aircraft had appeared: the Dassault Mirage, which reached beyond Mach 2 on an ordinary afterburning turbojet, with none of the ramjet&rsquo;s awkwardness. In February 1958 the government cancelled the Leduc programme, and Ren\u00e9 Leduc never designed another aircraft. His flying stovepipes went to museums &mdash; a brilliant dead end from a man history has been too quick to forget.<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7\"><em>&ldquo;The man who first turned this concept into flying reality was the forgotten aviation genius, Ren\u00e9 Leduc.&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Vegim Krelani<\/strong> &mdash; PlaneHistoria<\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;font-style:italic;margin-top:20px\">Sources: PlaneHistoria (Vegim Krelani); Wikipedia (Leduc 0.10; Leduc 0.21; Leduc 022); Mus\u00e9e de l\u2019air et de l\u2019espace. Dates and speeds are given as reported; sources differ slightly on some details.<\/p>\n<!-- mf-faq -->\n\n<div class=\"mf-faq-block\"><style>.mf-faq-block{margin:34px 0}.mf-faq-item:not([open]) .mf-faq-answer{display:none !important}.mf-faq-block h2.mf-faq-h{padding-top:22px;margin-bottom:14px}.mf-faq-item{border:1px solid #e2e8f5;border-radius:8px;margin:0 0 10px;background:#fff}.mf-faq-item summary{list-style:none;cursor:pointer;padding:15px 50px 15px 18px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a1a;position:relative;line-height:1.45;user-select:none}.mf-faq-item summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mf-faq-item summary::after{content:\"+\";position:absolute;right:18px;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%);font-size:1.5em;font-weight:400;color:#5C91FF;line-height:1}.mf-faq-item[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mf-faq-item[open] summary{border-bottom:1px solid #eef1f8}.mf-faq-item summary:hover{background:#f5f8ff}.mf-faq-answer{padding:14px 18px;color:#333;line-height:1.6}.mf-faq-answer p{margin:0}.mf-faq-answer a{color:#5C91FF}<\/style><h2 class=\"mf-faq-h\">Related Questions<\/h2><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What was the Leduc 0.10?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Leduc 0.10 was a French experimental aircraft and one of the first in the world to fly on ramjet power alone. Because a ramjet produces no thrust at a standstill, it could not take off by itself &#8212; it was carried aloft on top of a Sud-Est Languedoc airliner and released at altitude. Its first ramjet-powered flight came on 21 April 1949 over Toulouse, reaching about 680 km\/h on half power.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What is a ramjet and how does it work?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>A ramjet is the simplest jet engine imaginable: no compressor, no turbine, and barely any moving parts. It is essentially a shaped tube that uses its own forward speed to ram air inside, where fuel is added and burned. The idea was patented by Frenchman Ren&#233; Lorin in 1913, but it has a fatal catch &#8212; it produces no thrust until it is already moving fast.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Why couldn't the Leduc take off on its own?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Because its ramjet engine only generates thrust once the aircraft is already moving quickly through the air. Sitting still on a runway it produced nothing, so the Leduc had to be bolted to a gantry on top of a four-engined Languedoc airliner, hauled up to altitude, and dropped &#8212; only then did its engine come alive.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Who was Ren\u00e9 Leduc?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Ren&#233; Leduc was a stubbornly determined French engineer who spent decades pursuing ramjet flight. He secured a small government grant in 1933, demonstrated a working ramjet by 1936, and won a contract to build an aircraft around it. His prototype was hidden from the occupying Germans during the Second World War and did not fly under ramjet power until 1949.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Where did the pilot sit in the Leduc?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The pilot lay flat on his stomach, sealed inside a glazed nose pod positioned in the dead centre of the engine&#8217;s air intake, with the airflow rushing past him toward the combustion zone behind. A handful of other experimental designs tried prone piloting too, such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/northrop-xp-79-flying-ram-fighter-designed-to-ram-bombers\/\">Northrop XP-79<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>How fast did the Leduc fly?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The final version, the swept-wing Leduc 0.22, reached Mach 1.15 in 1957. The programme was cancelled the following year, in 1958, ending Ren&#233; Leduc&#8217;s dream of a pure-ramjet fighter after nearly three decades of work.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Did other aircraft use ramjet engines?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Yes &#8212; France in particular kept experimenting. The <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/nord-1500-griffon-ramjet-fighter-andre-turcat\/\">Nord 1500 Griffon<\/a> combined a turbojet with a ramjet and flew past Mach 2, while Germany&#8217;s wartime <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/focke-wulf-triebflugel-vtol-ramjet-interceptor\/\">Focke-Wulf Triebfl&#252;gel<\/a> concept proposed ramjets on the tips of rotating wings.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Leduc 0.10?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Leduc 0.10 was a French experimental aircraft and one of the first in the world to fly on ramjet power alone. Because a ramjet produces no thrust at a standstill, it could not take off by itself &#8212; it was carried aloft on top of a Sud-Est Languedoc airliner and released at altitude. Its first ramjet-powered flight came on 21 April 1949 over Toulouse, reaching about 680 km\/h on half power.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is a ramjet and how does it work?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"A ramjet is the simplest jet engine imaginable: no compressor, no turbine, and barely any moving parts. It is essentially a shaped tube that uses its own forward speed to ram air inside, where fuel is added and burned. The idea was patented by Frenchman Ren&#233; Lorin in 1913, but it has a fatal catch &#8212; it produces no thrust until it is already moving fast.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why couldn't the Leduc take off on its own?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Because its ramjet engine only generates thrust once the aircraft is already moving quickly through the air. Sitting still on a runway it produced nothing, so the Leduc had to be bolted to a gantry on top of a four-engined Languedoc airliner, hauled up to altitude, and dropped &#8212; only then did its engine come alive.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Who was Ren\u00e9 Leduc?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Ren&#233; Leduc was a stubbornly determined French engineer who spent decades pursuing ramjet flight. He secured a small government grant in 1933, demonstrated a working ramjet by 1936, and won a contract to build an aircraft around it. His prototype was hidden from the occupying Germans during the Second World War and did not fly under ramjet power until 1949.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Where did the pilot sit in the Leduc?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The pilot lay flat on his stomach, sealed inside a glazed nose pod positioned in the dead centre of the engine&#8217;s air intake, with the airflow rushing past him toward the combustion zone behind. A handful of other experimental designs tried prone piloting too, such as the <a href=\\\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/northrop-xp-79-flying-ram-fighter-designed-to-ram-bombers\/\\\">Northrop XP-79<\/a>.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How fast did the Leduc fly?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The final version, the swept-wing Leduc 0.22, reached Mach 1.15 in 1957. The programme was cancelled the following year, in 1958, ending Ren&#233; Leduc&#8217;s dream of a pure-ramjet fighter after nearly three decades of work.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Did other aircraft use ramjet engines?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Yes &#8212; France in particular kept experimenting. The <a href=\\\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/nord-1500-griffon-ramjet-fighter-andre-turcat\/\\\">Nord 1500 Griffon<\/a> combined a turbojet with a ramjet and flew past Mach 2, while Germany&#8217;s wartime <a href=\\\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/focke-wulf-triebflugel-vtol-ramjet-interceptor\/\\\">Focke-Wulf Triebfl&#252;gel<\/a> concept proposed ramjets on the tips of rotating wings.\"}}]}<\/script><!-- \/mf-faq -->\n\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/nord-1500-griffon-ramjet-fighter-andre-turcat\/\">The Ramjet Fighter That Hit Mach 2 on Half an Engine<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/snecma-coleoptere-annular-wing-vtol\/\">France\u2019s Flying Barrel That Actually Took Off<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>France\u2019s Leduc ramjet couldn\u2019t take off on its own. It was carried aloft on an airliner and dropped \u2014 with the pilot lying face-down inside the engine.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":4940197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4940635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-and-legends","category-military-aviation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Leduc Ramjet: The Jet That Couldn\u2019t Take Off<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"France\u2019s Leduc ramjet couldn\u2019t take off on its own \u2014 it was carried aloft on an airliner and dropped, with the pilot lying face-down inside the engine.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Leduc Ramjet: The Jet That Couldn\u2019t Take Off\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"France\u2019s Leduc ramjet couldn\u2019t take off on its own \u2014 it was carried aloft on an airliner and dropped, with the pilot lying face-down inside the engine.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-11T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-11T14:36:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/leduc-010-languedoc-mothership-featured.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"535\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3\"},\"headline\":\"The Jet That Couldn\u2019t Take Off\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-11T13:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-11T14:36:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1322,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/leduc-010-languedoc-mothership-featured.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"History &amp; Legends\",\"Military Aviation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Leduc Ramjet: The Jet That Couldn\u2019t Take Off\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/leduc-010-languedoc-mothership-featured.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-11T13:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-11T14:36:45+00:00\",\"description\":\"France\u2019s Leduc ramjet couldn\u2019t take off on its own \u2014 it was carried aloft on an airliner and dropped, with the pilot lying face-down inside the engine.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/leduc-010-languedoc-mothership-featured.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/07\\/leduc-010-languedoc-mothership-featured.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":535},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Jet That Couldn\u2019t Take Off\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"name\":\"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"width\":897,\"height\":278,\"caption\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/MiGFlug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/migflug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/migflug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MiGFlug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/migflug.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ch\\\/migflug\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3\",\"name\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\"},\"description\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy covers French and European aerospace, from Rafale and Airbus to NATO strategy and the continent\u2019s defence industry.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de\\\/author\\\/fortuneleroy\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Leduc Ramjet: The Jet That Couldn\u2019t Take Off","description":"France\u2019s Leduc ramjet couldn\u2019t take off on its own \u2014 it was carried aloft on an airliner and dropped, with the pilot lying face-down inside the engine.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/","og_locale":"de_DE","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Leduc Ramjet: The Jet That Couldn\u2019t Take Off","og_description":"France\u2019s Leduc ramjet couldn\u2019t take off on its own \u2014 it was carried aloft on an airliner and dropped, with the pilot lying face-down inside the engine.","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/","og_site_name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","article_published_time":"2026-07-11T13:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-11T14:36:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":535,"url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/leduc-010-languedoc-mothership-featured.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@migflug","twitter_site":"@migflug","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/"},"author":{"name":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3"},"headline":"The Jet That Couldn\u2019t Take Off","datePublished":"2026-07-11T13:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-11T14:36:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/"},"wordCount":1322,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/leduc-010-languedoc-mothership-featured.jpg","articleSection":["History &amp; Legends","Military Aviation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/","name":"The Leduc Ramjet: The Jet That Couldn\u2019t Take Off","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/leduc-010-languedoc-mothership-featured.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-11T13:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-11T14:36:45+00:00","description":"France\u2019s Leduc ramjet couldn\u2019t take off on its own \u2014 it was carried aloft on an airliner and dropped, with the pilot lying face-down inside the engine.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/leduc-010-languedoc-mothership-featured.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/07\/leduc-010-languedoc-mothership-featured.jpg","width":1280,"height":535},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/leduc-ramjet-the-jet-that-couldnt-take-off\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Jet That Couldn\u2019t Take Off"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","description":"F\u00fcr alle, die sich f\u00fcr das Fliegen von Milit\u00e4rjets und verwandte Luftfahrtthemen interessieren.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization","name":"MiGFlug GmbH","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","width":897,"height":278,"caption":"MiGFlug GmbH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","https:\/\/x.com\/migflug","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/migflug\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MiGFlug","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/migflug.com\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ch\/migflug\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/8de428a67c070c9b49afaa026328a4e3","name":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/24d828074a1cc6684638b2dcfc98a9dd85a2e06b37adfd74d20fae209f234190?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy"},"description":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy covers French and European aerospace, from Rafale and Airbus to NATO strategy and the continent\u2019s defence industry.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/author\/fortuneleroy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4940635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4940635"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4940635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4983064,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4940635\/revisions\/4983064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4940197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4940635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4940635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4940635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}