{"id":523421,"date":"2026-04-27T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=523421"},"modified":"2026-04-26T14:49:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T12:49:39","slug":"the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re: France&#8217;s Insane Annular-Wing VTOL Jet"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n\nPicture a jet engine standing on its tail. Now wrap an annular wing around it \u2014 a hollow doughnut of aluminium and steel. Put a man in a tilting seat at the top, light the afterburner, and launch the whole thing straight up like a Roman candle. That, in essence, was the SNECMA C.450 Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re.\n\nIt is, without exaggeration, one of the most audacious aircraft ever built. The French engineers behind it were not insane \u2014 they were trying to solve a real problem, and their solution was so radical that even today, looking at photographs of the Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re sitting on its launch platform, you have to pause and ask: did they really fly that?\n\nThey did. Nine times. And on the ninth, it all went wrong.\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4f8;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:18px 0 28px;border-radius:0 8px 8px 0\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;color:#333;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:20px;color:#444;line-height:1.8\">\n<li><strong>Aircraft:<\/strong> SNECMA C.450-01 Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re (&#8220;Beetle&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Type:<\/strong> Tail-sitting VTOL research aircraft with annular wing<\/li>\n<li><strong>Manufacturer:<\/strong> Nord Aviation \/ SNECMA<\/li>\n<li><strong>Engine:<\/strong> SNECMA Atar 101E.V turbojet (3,700 kgf thrust)<\/li>\n<li><strong>First tethered hover:<\/strong> April 17, 1959<\/li>\n<li><strong>First free flight:<\/strong> May 3, 1959<\/li>\n<li><strong>Total flights:<\/strong> 9<\/li>\n<li><strong>Maximum altitude:<\/strong> 800 m (2,625 ft)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Crash date:<\/strong> July 25, 1959<\/li>\n<li><strong>Test pilot:<\/strong> Auguste Morel (survived with injuries)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Concept origin:<\/strong> Austrian engineer Helmut von Zborowski<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Dream of the Annular Wing<\/h2>\n\nThe Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re&#8217;s story begins not in France but in Austria, with engineer Helmut von Zborowski. In the early 1950s, von Zborowski proposed a revolutionary idea: an annular wing \u2014 a hollow cylindrical surface wrapped around a jet engine \u2014 that could serve simultaneously as airframe, wing, and engine housing. The geometry would reduce drag, the internal engine would provide both thrust and lift, and the whole assembly could take off and land vertically without a runway.\n\nFor NATO planners terrified of Soviet nuclear strikes destroying European airfields in the first hours of a war, the concept was irresistible. An interceptor that needed no runway could be dispersed to forest clearings, parking lots, or mountain roads. SNECMA, the French engine manufacturer, picked up von Zborowski&#8217;s concept and ran with it.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=49225544  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/1\/15\/SNECMA_C.400_P2_Atar_Volant_-01_F-ZWUZ-_%2853410551372%29.jpg\/960px-SNECMA_C.400_P2_Atar_Volant_-01_F-ZWUZ-_%2853410551372%29.jpg\" alt=\"SNECMA Atar Volant C.400 P2 tail-sitting VTOL test vehicle\" 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 SNECMA Atar Volant \u2014 the Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re&#8217;s predecessor. This bare turbojet on legs proved that a jet engine alone could hover and land vertically, paving the way for the annular-wing concept. Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nBut before wrapping an annular wing around a turbojet, SNECMA needed to prove the basic principle: could a jet engine, standing on its tail, hover, transition to horizontal flight, and land vertically? They built the Atar Volant \u2014 literally &#8220;flying Atar&#8221; \u2014 a stripped-down SNECMA Atar turbojet mounted vertically on four legs with a pilot perched on top.\n\nIt looked like a science fiction prop. It sounded like the end of the world. And incredibly, it worked. Between 1956 and 1958, the Atar Volant completed over 200 tethered hovers and more than a hundred free flights, proving that a single turbojet could sustain controlled vertical flight.\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Building the Beetle<\/h2>\n\nWith the Atar Volant&#8217;s success in hand, SNECMA moved to the next step: the C.450 Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re itself. Nord Aviation built the airframe \u2014 a sleek fuselage enclosed within a barrel-shaped annular wing roughly 3.2 metres in diameter. Four small triangular fins at the base served as landing gear and provided limited control during hover. The Atar 101E.V turbojet produced 3,700 kilograms of thrust \u2014 enough to lift the 3,000-kilogram aircraft with margin to spare.\n\nThe pilot sat in a tilting ejection seat at the top of the fuselage. During vertical flight, the seat rotated so the pilot looked roughly upward. During the planned transition to horizontal flight, the seat would tilt forward to a conventional position. In theory, the transition from vertical to horizontal would be smooth and controlled, the annular wing generating lift as airspeed increased.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px\"><img data-opt-id=1365046264  fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/d\/de\/Atar_Volant_musee_du_Bourget_P1020253.JPG\/960px-Atar_Volant_musee_du_Bourget_P1020253.JPG\" alt=\"SNECMA Atar Volant on display at Le Bourget aviation museum\" 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 Atar Volant preserved at the Mus\u00e9e de l&#8217;Air et de l&#8217;Espace, Le Bourget. The naked simplicity of the design \u2014 a turbojet with four legs and a seat \u2014 is both audacious and slightly terrifying. Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\nIn practice, the transition was the most dangerous part of the flight envelope \u2014 the phase where the aircraft was too slow for aerodynamic control but too committed to hover safely. Every tailsitter design in history has struggled with this moment. The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re would be no exception.\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Nine Flights and a Catastrophe<\/h2>\n\nTest pilot Auguste Morel made the first tethered hover on April 17, 1959. The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re rose on a column of fire and noise, held in place by cables, and settled back down. It worked. On May 3, Morel made the first free hover, keeping the aircraft airborne for three and a half minutes.\n\nOver the following weeks, Morel made seven more flights, gradually extending the envelope \u2014 climbing higher, moving laterally, testing the control responses. The aircraft reached 800 metres altitude. Each flight revealed the same challenge: the Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re was stable in pure hover, but the instrumentation was primitive and the pilot had almost no visual references to judge attitude or drift. There was no horizon line when you were sitting on top of a vertical rocket.\n\nThe ninth flight, on July 25, 1959, was supposed to begin the transition toward horizontal flight \u2014 a gentle tilt, a slow buildup of forward speed, the first step toward proving the concept could work as a real aircraft.\n\nIt went wrong almost immediately. The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re tilted past its controllable angle. Without adequate instruments or visual cues, Morel could not judge how far the aircraft had pitched. The annular wing, which provided stability in pure hover, offered almost no aerodynamic authority at the low speeds of the transition phase. The aircraft began oscillating \u2014 pitching nose-up, then overcorrecting nose-down \u2014 in wild swings that Morel could not damp out.\n\nAt 150 metres altitude, with the aircraft tumbling, Morel fired the ejection seat. He was badly injured but survived. The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re hit the ground and was destroyed.\n\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Why It Could Never Have Worked<\/h2>\n\nThe crash ended the programme. A second prototype had been planned, but funding never materialised. By the early 1960s, the entire tailsitter concept was falling out of favour worldwide \u2014 the American Convair XFY Pogo and Lockheed XFV had encountered similar control problems years earlier, and neither had progressed beyond experimental flight.\n\nThe fundamental issue was not the annular wing itself, which provided reasonable performance in hover. The problem was the transition. Moving from vertical to horizontal flight demanded precise attitude control at very low airspeeds \u2014 exactly the regime where conventional control surfaces are least effective. Modern fly-by-wire systems and digital flight controls could potentially solve this problem, but in 1959, with analog instruments and a pilot&#8217;s eyeballs as the primary reference, the transition was an invitation to disaster.\n\nThe Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re was not a failure of courage or imagination. It was a machine that arrived fifty years too early for the technology it needed to succeed. Auguste Morel, who risked his life nine times atop a vertical jet engine, later said he believed the concept was sound \u2014 just beyond the capabilities of 1959 engineering.\n\nThe wreckage was cleared. The programme was closed. And one of the strangest, bravest chapters in French aviation history quietly disappeared into the archives.\n\n<em>Sources: Mus\u00e9e de l&#8217;Air et de l&#8217;Espace, Military Factory, National Interest, Vertipedia (VTOL.org)<\/em>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Picture a jet engine standing on its tail. Now wrap an annular wing around it \u2014 a hollow doughnut of aluminium and steel. Put a man in a tilting seat at the top, light the afterburner, and launch the whole thing straight up like a Roman candle. That, in essence, was the SNECMA C.450 Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":523434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-523421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re: France&#039;s Insane Annular-Wing VTOL Jet | MiGFlug.com Blog<\/title>\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\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re: France&#039;s Insane Annular-Wing VTOL Jet | MiGFlug.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Picture a jet engine standing on its tail. Now wrap an annular wing around it \u2014 a hollow doughnut of aluminium and steel. Put a man in a tilting seat at the top, light the afterburner, and launch the whole thing straight up like a Roman candle. That, in essence, was the SNECMA C.450 Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MiGFlug.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-27T06:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:497\/h:636\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/snecma-coleoptere-c450-vtol-annular-wing.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"497\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"636\" \/>\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: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=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5c2a0903e94d20f73e438b41e79c51be\"},\"headline\":\"The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re: France&#8217;s Insane Annular-Wing VTOL Jet\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-27T06:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1196,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/04\\/snecma-coleoptere-c450-vtol-annular-wing.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Aviation World\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re: France's Insane Annular-Wing VTOL Jet | MiGFlug.com Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/04\\/snecma-coleoptere-c450-vtol-annular-wing.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-27T06:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5c2a0903e94d20f73e438b41e79c51be\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/04\\/snecma-coleoptere-c450-vtol-annular-wing.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/04\\/snecma-coleoptere-c450-vtol-annular-wing.jpg\",\"width\":497,\"height\":636},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re: France&#8217;s Insane Annular-Wing VTOL Jet\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug.com Blog\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"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\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5c2a0903e94d20f73e438b41e79c51be\",\"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 covers European aviation with the flair you would expect from a Parisian defence correspondent. Raised on stories of the Arm\u00e9e de l'Air and educated at Sciences Po, he brings a continental perspective to everything from Rafale deployments to Airbus strategy. His articles connect the dots between industrial policy, alliance politics, and the aircraft that result from both.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/author\\\/fortuneleroy\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re: France's Insane Annular-Wing VTOL Jet | MiGFlug.com Blog","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\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re: France's Insane Annular-Wing VTOL Jet | MiGFlug.com Blog","og_description":"Picture a jet engine standing on its tail. Now wrap an annular wing around it \u2014 a hollow doughnut of aluminium and steel. Put a man in a tilting seat at the top, light the afterburner, and launch the whole thing straight up like a Roman candle. That, in essence, was the SNECMA C.450 Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re. [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/","og_site_name":"MiGFlug.com Blog","article_published_time":"2026-04-27T06:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":497,"height":636,"url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:497\/h:636\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/04\/snecma-coleoptere-c450-vtol-annular-wing.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/"},"author":{"name":"Fortun\u00e9 Leroy","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/5c2a0903e94d20f73e438b41e79c51be"},"headline":"The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re: France&#8217;s Insane Annular-Wing VTOL Jet","datePublished":"2026-04-27T06:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/"},"wordCount":1196,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/#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\/04\/snecma-coleoptere-c450-vtol-annular-wing.jpg","articleSection":["Aviation World"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/","name":"The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re: France's Insane Annular-Wing VTOL Jet | MiGFlug.com Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/#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\/04\/snecma-coleoptere-c450-vtol-annular-wing.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-27T06:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/5c2a0903e94d20f73e438b41e79c51be"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/#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\/04\/snecma-coleoptere-c450-vtol-annular-wing.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\/04\/snecma-coleoptere-c450-vtol-annular-wing.jpg","width":497,"height":636},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/the-coleoptere-frances-insane-annular-wing-vtol-jet\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Col\u00e9opt\u00e8re: France&#8217;s Insane Annular-Wing VTOL Jet"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","name":"MiGFlug.com Blog","description":"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics","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":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/5c2a0903e94d20f73e438b41e79c51be","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 covers European aviation with the flair you would expect from a Parisian defence correspondent. Raised on stories of the Arm\u00e9e de l'Air and educated at Sciences Po, he brings a continental perspective to everything from Rafale deployments to Airbus strategy. His articles connect the dots between industrial policy, alliance politics, and the aircraft that result from both.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/author\/fortuneleroy\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":523437,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523421\/revisions\/523437"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}