{"id":3726662,"date":"2026-07-04T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=3726662"},"modified":"2026-07-20T20:44:38","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T18:44:38","slug":"nord-1500-griffon-ramjet-fighter-andre-turcat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/nord-1500-griffon-ramjet-fighter-andre-turcat\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ramjet Fighter That Hit Mach 2 on Half an Engine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style><\/p>\r\n<p>Somewhere over central France in the late 1950s, test pilot Andr\u00e9 Turcat pushes a strange delta-winged aircraft past the speed where a normal jet engine begins to gasp for air. And that is when the Nord Griffon comes alive. Behind him, a ramjet the size of a small room ignites, and the acceleration slams him back into his seat. The machine is no longer flying on its jet engine. It is flying on fire and airflow alone.<\/p>\r\n<p>The Nord 1500 Griffon was one of the boldest \u2014 and strangest \u2014 experiments in the history of jet propulsion. And the man in its cockpit would go on to fly Concorde.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background: #f4f6f9; border-radius: 8px; padding: 18px 22px; margin: 24px 0;\">\r\n<p style=\"margin: 0 0 10px; font-weight: bold; color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: .3px;\">QUICK FACTS<\/p>\r\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5;\">\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 14px 6px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>Aircraft<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 0; color: #222;\">Nord 1500 Griffon (France)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 14px 6px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>First flight<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 0; color: #222;\">Griffon I, 1955; ramjet-powered Griffon II, 1957<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 14px 6px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>Powerplant<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 0; color: #222;\">Turbojet inside a ramjet duct \u2014 a combined-cycle engine<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 14px 6px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>Top speed<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 0; color: #222;\">About Mach 2.19<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 14px 6px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>Test pilot<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 0; color: #222;\">Andr\u00e9 Turcat \u2014 later Concorde\u2019s chief test pilot<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 14px 6px 0; color: #666; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;\"><strong>Built<\/strong><\/td>\r\n<td style=\"padding: 6px 0; color: #222;\">Just two \u2014 never entered service<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 22px;\">An engine within an engine<\/h2>\r\n<p>The Griffon\u2019s secret was a combined-cycle powerplant: a turbojet mounted <em>inside<\/em> a huge ramjet duct. A ramjet has no moving parts \u2014 it simply rams air in, burns fuel, and blasts it out \u2014 but it only works once the aircraft is already moving fast. So the Griffon used its turbojet to accelerate up to speed, at which point the ramjet lit and took over, delivering thrust a conventional fighter of the day could only dream of.<\/p>\r\n<p>The result was ferocious acceleration and a top speed around Mach 2.19 \u2014 remarkable for the mid-1950s. But it came at a price: the ramjet generated brutal heat, gulped fuel, and made the aircraft fiendishly complex.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin: 0 0 24px;\"><img data-opt-id=593696473  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" style=\"display: block; width: 100%; height: auto; border-radius: 6px;\" 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\/nord-1500-griffon-ii-ramjet.jpg\" alt=\"Nord 1500 Griffon II preserved in a museum\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" \/>\r\n<figcaption style=\"font-size: 13px; color: #777; text-align: center; margin-top: 6px; font-style: italic;\">The Griffon II\u2019s vast ramjet duct swallowed a turbojet whole \u2014 the jet started the aircraft, the ramjet finished the job. (Wikimedia Commons)<\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 22px;\">The pilot who would fly Concorde<\/h2>\r\n<p>At the controls was Andr\u00e9 Turcat, one of France\u2019s finest test pilots. In the Griffon he set a world speed record over a 100-kilometre closed circuit, taming an aircraft that was as much a flying furnace as a fighter. A decade later, Turcat would take Concorde into the air for the first time \u2014 carrying the lessons of the Griffon\u2019s heat and speed with him.<\/p>\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top: 22px;\">A magnificent dead end<\/h2>\r\n<p>For all its brilliance, the Griffon never had a future. The combined turbojet-ramjet was too complex and too hot to be practical, and it offered little a conventional interceptor could not do more cheaply. France put its money on the simpler, elegant Dassault <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/mirage-iii\">Mirage III<\/a> \u2014 which went on to become one of the great export fighters of the century \u2014 and the Griffon programme ended with just two aircraft built.<\/p>\r\n<p>Today one survives in a museum, its enormous intake still gaping like the mouth of some mechanical predator. It never fired a shot in anger. But for a few years in the 1950s, it was one of the fastest, wildest things in the sky \u2014 and proof that French engineers were willing to try almost anything to catch the future.<\/p>\r\n<p><em>Sources: Mus\u00e9e de l\u2019air et de l\u2019espace, Le Bourget; Flight International archives; French aviation historical records.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mf-faq -->\r\n\r\n\r\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}<\/style>\r\n<h2 class=\"mf-faq-h\">Related Questions<\/h2>\r\n<details class=\"mf-faq-item\">\r\n<summary>What was the Nord 1500 Griffon?<\/summary>\r\n<div class=\"mf-faq-answer\">\r\n<p>The Nord 1500 Griffon was an experimental French interceptor of the 1950s built around a combined turbojet-and-ramjet engine. A conventional jet accelerated the aircraft until a huge ramjet could take over, driving it past Mach 2. Only two were built and it never entered service.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\">\r\n<summary>How did the Griffon\u2019s engine work?<\/summary>\r\n<div class=\"mf-faq-answer\">\r\n<p>The Griffon used a combined-cycle powerplant: a turbojet mounted inside a large ramjet duct. The turbojet got the aircraft moving, and once it was fast enough the ramjet \u2014 which only works at high speed \u2014 ignited and provided enormous thrust. It was one of the boldest propulsion experiments of the era.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\">\r\n<summary>Who flew the Nord Griffon?<\/summary>\r\n<div class=\"mf-faq-answer\">\r\n<p>The Griffon\u2019s test pilot was Andr\u00e9 Turcat, who set a world speed record over a 100-kilometre circuit in it in the late 1950s. Turcat later became famous as the chief test pilot of Concorde, making the supersonic airliner\u2019s first flight in 1969.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\">\r\n<summary>How fast was the Nord Griffon?<\/summary>\r\n<div class=\"mf-faq-answer\">\r\n<p>The Griffon II reached around Mach 2.19 and set an international speed record over a closed circuit. For a mid-1950s aircraft, that was blistering \u2014 the ramjet gave it acceleration few contemporaries could match, though the heat and complexity were severe.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\">\r\n<summary>Why didn\u2019t the Griffon enter service?<\/summary>\r\n<div class=\"mf-faq-answer\">\r\n<p>The combined turbojet-ramjet was complex, generated punishing heat, and offered little that a conventional fighter could not. France chose the simpler, cheaper and hugely successful Dassault Mirage III instead, and the Griffon remained a two-aircraft experiment.<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/details><\/div>\r\n<p><script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the Nord 1500 Griffon?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Nord 1500 Griffon was an experimental French interceptor of the 1950s built around a combined turbojet-and-ramjet engine. A conventional jet accelerated the aircraft until a huge ramjet could take over, driving it past Mach 2. Only two were built and it never entered service.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"How did the Griffon\u2019s engine work?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Griffon used a combined-cycle powerplant: a turbojet mounted inside a large ramjet duct. 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France chose the simpler, cheaper and hugely successful Dassault Mirage III instead, and the Griffon remained a two-aircraft experiment.\"}}]}<\/script><!-- \/mf-faq -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background: #f0f4ff; border-left: 4px solid #5C91FF; padding: 16px 20px; margin: 32px 0 8px; border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0;\">\r\n<p style=\"margin: 0 0 8px; font-weight: 600; color: #333;\">Related Posts<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin: 4px 0;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-f-104-starfighter-how-germany-turned-a-masterpiece-into-the-widowmaker\/\">The F-104 Starfighter: A Masterpiece Turned Widowmaker<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin: 4px 0;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/military-aviation-history-zeppelin-to-sixth-generation\/\">Wings of War: From Zeppelin to Sixth Generation<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Somewhere over central France in the late 1950s, test pilot Andr\u00e9 Turcat pushes a strange delta-winged aircraft past the speed where a normal jet engine begins to gasp for air. And that is when the Nord Griffon comes alive. Behind him, a ramjet the size of a small room ignites, and the acceleration slams him [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":3726524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[666,664],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3726662","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 v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nord 1500 Griffon: The Ramjet Fighter That Hit Mach 2<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Nord 1500 Griffon flew at Mach 2.19 on a turbojet buried inside a ramjet \u2014 with future Concorde test pilot Andr\u00e9 Turcat at the controls.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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