As a young French citizen back in 1990, I served my time in the French Air Force at the Mont de Marsan airbase. There, I had the privilege to see this amazing aircraft take off and land on a daily basis. I remember admiring it taking off with its afterburner from the window of my bedroom during sunset. The roaring engines and the elegant shape slowly vanishing as the planes began their alert patrols. Back then I already knew the Mirage IV was already largely outdated but I never stopped admiring it and I really cherish my memories of this time.
With jammers, they would have been very useful over Kuwait in '90/'91 right through 'til today. Apparently B-52's over 30,000ft were used against forward SAM defended Iraqi positions with impunity. Interesting that altitude again meant safety. Bon jour.
Dassault, outre les patrons (héritiers) qui dégradent leur image, sont quand même un fleuron de la technologie. C'est d'ailleurs ce qui m'enrage encore plus envers ces "capitaines d'industries" en France: ils ne sont pas au niveau des industries qu'ils parasitent... Mais bref, je m'égare.. Oui les mirages, le rafale, et même pour le logiciel, les Français sont capables de faire de belles choses et de rivaliser avec les déluges de dollars dont bénéficient les compagnies US. J'ai grandi a Biscarrosse, entre le CEV de Cazaux, et le CEL, on voyait souvent ces oiseaux de métal voler sur nos tètes, mon mentor en informatique travaillait pour le CEV et avec lui on partageait notre passion pour l'aéronautique... Dans les années 80, on voyait aussi des tirs d'ICBM, c'était fou, le bruit fracassant et de voir ces fusées partir dans le ciel, quand on était en primaire on galopait dans la cour pour voir ca. Salutations d'un Gascon !
I was a maintainer in the Israeli Air Force in the 90s, mostly on F-4E "Kurnass". I think the only cold war jet possibly more iconic than the Phantom, would be a Dassault Mirage-IV. We had all French jets in the Six Day War : Super Mistare, Vatoure, & Mirrage III. We had an old Vatoure on a pedistal in front of one of our squadrons HQ, it was big and ungainly, but had a vary long and usefull bomb payliad doors. The Mirrage was before my time, but we still had a few Kfir in service. Dassault make the most beautifully leathal jets.
Not only did you do a wonderful job with the mirage 4, you gave the reason France left NATO 's integrated command and the strategic objectives of the french deterrent in clear and simple terms. Good job !😊
This is a stuningly beautiful airframe.This is a real design masterpiece that can be examined at the Yorkshire aircraft museum. What amazed me was how thin all the airfoils were; better than the Lockheed starfighter.IMHO. Also the cockpits were plenty large enough. Great video - adding to the background of this historic plane.
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 That is just a thickness to chord ratio. It doesn't give the nominal value of the thickness itself. To get thickness you multiply that percent by the chord
The Mirage IV was an attractive and capable platform wish fulfilled its design parameters well. The idea to base its development on existing proven technologies was a very smart and financially reasonable decision. Proving, in life you don't always have to start from scratch. Ed, that was a very insightful look at this aircraft. Thank you.
LOL - not at all under-appreciated...just the standard French, "Pah, Zees 'wheel' is not from France! Ve vill zees re-invent from zee baxic mathematique!" Then proceed to re-invent everything from the circle on up, throw away any original plans and by dint of amazing amounts of work make the project successful anyways. France is *expected* to be competent so doesn't always get the seeming praise of the Anglo-sphere....Each nation that can makes its own weapons systems. One never knows when a change of power in an "Ally" turns them into your next enemy....
True.. it’s common in the English speaking places around the globe to basically ridicule and belittle anything French , possibly a carryover from the numerous French English wars that had become so common up until the 20th century.
When George W Bush wanted to invade Iraq, France advised against it. Up until the invasion, the French Armée de l'Aire had been flying Mirage 4 reconnaissance missions to get the pics the yank satellites couldn't get. France was proved right, the invasion had a bad outcome. And on CNN I saw one of the yank statesmen giving a speech which included "We'll have to consider what sanctions to take against the French" because they wouldn't join the invasion against the non-existent "Weapons of Mass Destruction". And there began a hate campaign in US against the French. French air hostesses were reviled by yank airport officials. Very good French engineers, very knowing French statesmen and diplomats. Typical bullying and blustering yank statesmen. Nice plane. I used to see them fly over my house in the 1990s (that's in the Lot département). Nice video. Thank you.
I mostly agree but have a quibble. Everyone in Bushco, including the US military and possibly Dubbya himself, knew what France knew. It wasn't a failure in intelligence, it was a wilful crime and everyone involved should have been handed over to a world court. I. Pete. An American patriot am the first to admit that. Cheers!
Nothing triggers the inherent 'murican insecurity or feeling of inferiority like the French. The french on a cultural level, the British on an intellectual level.
To me it's the most beautiful Mirage ever! Such an elegant Aircraft! I don't know why I'm attracted to Delta Wings and Flying Wings but they just look beautiful! Simple form but effective! The presence is allmost like a Mini-Concorde...😎👌
The Mirage IV was flown by both Aérospatiale & BAC Concorde test pilot's before they first flew the prototype's, as it was expected to handle like a huge-Mirage IV too👍
Elegant and deadly. A Mirrage-III flown by Giora Epstein holds the all time world record for confirmed kills in a fighter jet. In the right hands, French built Dassault jets decimated Soviet/Russian jets, some were secretly piloted by Russian pilots.
GREAT VIDEO about a GREAT AIRCRAFT (history indicates that it was successful in its nuclear deterrent role). I saw four Mirage IV's on the ground at Charles de Gaulle airport from the window of a taxiing 747 in December 1981, and I'll never forget the sight. I did not know there was an operational giant twin-engine Mirage so I was freaking out all the way back to the States until I could look it up. Probably the most beautiful aircraft I have ever seen, its only possible rival in that regard being the Northrop YF-23.
I worked without a Airbase oparate Mirage 2000-5 (air domination version) (But I Know this fighter in meeting At 11 years. Go inside for make a photo. 11 Old I already had difficulty getting into the Cockpit because it is so small) (I am a litel boy of 1 m90 or around 6.25 Ft to day)) Generally, I don't really like the design of American Aircraft, but I must admit that the LM Sr71 and Northrop YF-23 are beyond anything we have done in Europe, and even in France or Russia, generations ahead. Its planes look like they came out of a science fiction film. I think the Black Widow is the most beautiful and awesome airplane ever created. The Yf-23 was so superior to the F22 in almost every way that it's hard to understand the choice (other than corruption) When you see this plane, you have the impression of seeing a plane of a higher generation. Its engineers put so much energy and work into making the plane successful, especially with the GE variable-cycle engines, its speed and its altitude. It was refused for all projects, the superiority one, the bomber, and the modified version for the Navy, the Nataf. We say to ourselves that the Northrop engineers must have really had it wrong, and I have the balls for them. We see that this very squashed and wide shape guarantees a small equivalent surface area. It was widely used on the last Russian Sukhoi. To return to our good old Mirage 4 (Call us, “La pelle à tarte”) "Cake, pie server" This is due to its super flat wings (supersonic flight) and its super long landing gear. On the ground, he had a really special look. (from the front, it also looked like we were seeing a medieval knight in armor. Or a pink flamingo walking. What we can know about going back to the Mirage 4 is its ability to fly supersonic for a long time. 30 minutes at mach 2 and more than an hour at mach 1.8. The mirages 3 in training never manage to intercept it. (between his electronic warfare and his speed) he was untouchable. Which at the time was totally unique. The Sr71 has superior possibilities, but its so difficult to oparate and the cary possibility are nothing comparable. Another strength of the Mirage 4 is that it can completely change missions during its career. When the U2 of Francis Gary Powers was brought down by the Soviets SAM, the French changed from the high altitude mission to combat infiltration at very low altitude. (to avoid radar) And the bomber is wonderfully well adapted to the new flight characteristics. The Mirage 4 will serve as the technological basis for the Concorde. Its flight controls are the ancestor of the F.B.W. flight controls. French and European. which will greatly accelerate the design of Concorde and subsequently give Fly by wire to Airbus and Dassault. Which are often far superior to other manufacturers. For my part, my favorite Mirage (design) was the Mirage F1, with its small high wings and huge belly cans, it was our French F104. It was fast, maneuverable and efficient (although its radar was a bit crap and worked when it wanted (overheating) Via its best-of-the-moment missiles, it still knocked out a certain number of Iranian F14s, a much more sophisticated and expensive aircraft. But in the military, technology does not always equate to success. You only have to see Vietnam to understand.
Great video! The last time I was at French Air Force Base BA125, i was able to get up close to a Mirage IV they had on static display. Very impressive (and large!) airplane. Like you said beautiful and deadly.
I don't think there is any other design in history in which a bomber frame was made from a scaled up fighter frame. If you can think of one, tell me please
@@decimated550 The similar Convair B-58A was heavily based on the F-102/F-106 basic designs, but wasn't simply an enlarged version of them, unlike the Mirage III/IV. 🤓
@@CharlesTaylor-o9p imaginE how easy it was to design the mirage IV...prolly took the designer a single evening to simply scale everything up! Imagine his boss when he came in the next morning which completely finished plans, scrolled under his arm kk kk
G'day, You're not bloody wrong ! Growing up in Oz, I recall the transition from Vampires and Avon-Sabres overflying ANZAC Days and Canberra's beating-up little Country Town Aero-Club Fly-ins on Summer Weekends...; then we saw Mirage- III and Phantoms, then F-111 overflights. I thus grew up being so used to seeing the Mirage III from all angles, and being much more interested in Camels and Spitfires, Triplanes and Edit. Posted early via Finga Trubble...l ...Triplanes and Messerschmitts, that I never read anything about the Mirage-IV and thus if I thought anything about it my impression was that it was "probably" an "updated version of" the Mirage III...; but I cannot swear to being aware of the Second Seat nor the Second Powerplant, and certainly I was unaware that the Mirage-IV was visually a M.-III which had been upscaled in every Dimension by 50% or 60%, while discretely adding in a second Cockpit behind the Pilot and two Engines fitted side-by-side.... So in Photographs, unless something fairly jarring is in-frame, to enforce a sense of Scale it's never previously struck me that the M.-IV was so very much bigger than the M.-III...; I apparently always interpreted the Photo' as being a Mirage-III by misunderconstumbling the distance and therefore getting the scale wrong - and moving on (to something "more interesting" - with a Propeller or several). Somewhere between Confirmation Bias and Domestic Blindness, and seeing what I expected to look at - I suppose. Such is life, Have a good one... Stay safe. ;-p Ciao !
Great video👍🙂 Various Mirage models were used during South Africa's Border War from the late 1970's up the early 1990's operated by the previous SAAF. They stood up well against various Soviet supplied aircraft, operated by the then front line states and ofcourse in the skies of Southern Angola. When the SABC TV was launched in 1975/6 there was also a French dubbed TV mini series 'Mirage' featuring the daily trials and tribulations of 2 French pilots. Some good videos are still on YT featuring the Swiss Air force operating their Mirages in some thrillingly flying in the Alps.
The Dassault company built some beautiful aircraft and the Mirage III and IV are a beautiful example of the French approach to engineering, as in the Citroen DS-19 and the CGSB's .375 SR-73 revolver.
Hello, they are many in French like this one. Just use subtitles and from parameters select your native language to enjoy it. ruclips.net/video/Y4xjSObEvFs/видео.html
0:45 "...often overlooked role in the Manhattan project". I find it amazing how many non-US participants were simply airbrushed out of the Manhattan project.
Beautiful, elegant design in ALL ASPECTS!! DASSAULT did a MASTERFUL JOB EARLY ON and followed an EVOLUTIONARY DESIGN PHILOSOPHY that would give the FRENCH AIR FORCES a VERSATILE PLATFORM that not only FULFILLED IT'S BASIC MISSION AGENDA of PLAUSIBLE DETERRENCE in the MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION ROLE of BALANCE OF POWER WORLD POLITICS but was also CAPABLE of being FURTHER MODIFIED/ADAPTED to RENDER ADDITIONAL SERVICES!!! And it did so with such ELEGANT SAVOIR FAIRE!! DETENT with SOPHISTICATED BEAUTY, EH WHAT!?!? The FRENCH ENGINEERING AND DESIGN is TOP NOTCH as well!! The way they TUCKED EXTRA FUEL INTO EVERY POSSIBLE NOOK AND CRANNY was BRILLIANT!! This was DICTATED BY THE DEMANDS OF NEEDING MORE FUEL for LARGER and MORE POWERFUL ENGINES but also by the need to SUSTAIN MACH 2 for at least 30 MINUTES of MISSION PROFILE!! WOW!! IN MY YOUTH(13,14,15), my BEST FRIEND and FELLOW MODELLER BUILT MANY FINELY DETAILED and ARTICULATED MODELS of ALL KINDS OF MILITARY MACHINES as well as SHIPS(USS IOWA for EXAMPLE), TANKS(RUSSIAN and US/NATO) and HOT ROD AUTOMOBILES!! I HAD A LARGER SCALE P-38 LIGHTNING that was MOLDED IN CHROME that MIMICKED the ORIGINAL POLISHED ALUMINUM FUSELAGE from the FACTORY and also the SAME LARGE SCALE, POLISHED ALUMINUM LOOKING FUSELAGE in a B58 HUSTLER!! They were TIME-CONSUMING BUILDS REQUIRING CAREFUL ATTENTION TO DETAILS and HANDLING OF COMPONENTS!! A CARELESS DROP OF GLUE or SPLASH OF PAINT meant a DISASTER(WE WEREN'T RICH KIDS ON AN UNLIMITED BUDGET)!! ALL OF OUR PERSONNEL, PILOTS and TANK COMMANDERS were DONE WITH THE SAME EXACTING CARE!! SPENT ALL OUR ALLOWANCES and whatever money we could earn doing odd jobs(like shovelling out driveways and mowing lawns for people in our neighborhood), so we were very want to DO IT RIGHT the FIRST TIME!! WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE ONE OF THESE MIRAGE IVs HANGING FROM MY CEILING or SITTING ON MY BOOKSHELVES!! FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION is an OLD TRIED AND TRUE DESIGN AXIOM, BUT THE FRENCH HAVE DONE IT with SUPERB STYLE!! C'EST SI BON, MON AMI!! C'EST SI BON!! FORMIDABLE!! ADIEU!!!
If I remember it, the Mirage IV was designed that way because operated from bases in France, they didn't need a big plane to fly nuclear weapons long ranges, since the French didn't contemplate delivering nuclear weapons any further east of Moscow.
Serious consideration was given to a re-engined Mirage IV as an alternative to TSR-2. Also gives us some idea what the developed thin-winged Javelin might have looked like.
Speaking of the "sleek looks" I think that may have a lot to do with the development of the Fairey Delta II - Dassault were kind enough to allow Fairey airbase facilties after our british government issued too much red tape for it to continue it's supersonic flight testing. The Fairey Delta II was a record breaking single engined supersonic prototype that lost out after Duncan Sands took an axe to our air force development budgets - the Fairey Delta 3 was a twin engined jet that would certainly have given the famous English Electric Lightening a run for it's money but sadly Duncan's axe fell leaving Dassault with a lot of know how in the development of it's own aircraft - not all was lost with the Fairey Delta though even from the British perspective - the hinged nose for example was adopted in the development of the Anglo-French Concord. Our biggest impediment was NOT lack of technology or innovation but rather political intrigue and shortsightedness again from the political class.
I was raised in Cognac, where there is an important air base (709) for French air force pilots training. We used to go sometimes to the big annual Air Show at the military base, and I was in love with the Mirage F1 (he was the king of the show most of the time, back then). Then one year they announced at the mic that we would have a surprise, the visit of a mirage IV nuclear bomber, that just took off from Mont-de-Marson airbase ! And then a few minutes later we saw this huge plane (twice the size of the Mirage F1) and his impressive noise flying low over us... Then he made a very large U turn (out of sight for a long time) and came back over us... This took place around 1978 I guess, and I still have this image and sound in my mind.
Only recently struck me that the Mirages got supersonic fighter thing nailed way before Britain ever did. (The Lightning was more an interceptor truck.)
Happy new year mate, I had heard that Dassualt himself expressed the idea, that if it looks beautiful, it will fly well, as a guiding design principle. We Aussies had the Mirage III's I think, and until seeing one up close, it isn't apparent how tiny the craft is. A former pilot was nearby for comments, and he was informative, short and not very stocky. Had he been any taller, I doubt he would have fitted the cockpit. This reminds me of British pilots transitioning to American fighters in WWII, where they would comment that the Americans had large, roomy cockpits in their craft. (likely the P-47?)
@@Eric-kn4yn There is only so far you can pull your head in and raise your knees, especially if you expect to eject, keeping any of your limbs. A fellow, I know, was a former USAF F-16 pilot till his retirement. He was fairly diminutive, but that is an advantage in G-lock situations, I believe. He flew them for well over 20 years and still loves them. (it being one of my secret loves, too.) Another aircraft that is astonishingly small, in the flesh, is the English Electric Canberra bomber. It usually makes a showing at the Melb. Int. Air Show just inside the entrance. A remarkable aircraft in every way, and the roles it could fulfil, leaving it to become the only aircraft the proud Americans have ever been forced to purchase from a foreign supplier. Tremendous range and altitude, sans a refuelling ability; with a camera and/or bomb capacity.(Boscombe Downs to Washington, DC @ 50,000 ft without being spotted on radar) At a comfortable enough pace, for Wing Commander and senior test pilot Beaumont at the stick.
Juste some clarification if I may as an old Frenchman now: 1:13: the development of the French A bomb had nothing to do with prestige: the aim was mainly for international policy, being then part of the "super-powers club", so to speak and, above all, being really independant. 9:00: we know now that, although an amount of bombers was permanently on "hot" alert, there has never been aircrafts in the air over France carrying their bombs, at least out of periods of high tension ... The rest is perfectly correct. Regards
Yes indeed, an almost forgotten type. The Mirage IV is a most enigmatic military aircraft. In the same way, RAF Lightnings found it hard to lock onto Vulcan's, so it was for FAF Mirage III's to target Mirage IV's. Indeed. I read that Mirage IV's could even best it's smaller brother in high altitude close combat!
Hey Ed, thank you for making such informed and interesting videos. If you’re looking for ideas I’d be interested in the history of Hispano Suisa’s contribution to aviation. I’m a pilot and am familiar with most of the other companies mentioned including power plants and armaments. Thanks again for the great work!
At least ! Thanks a lot. One of the best planes of the Cold War era and a good exemple of what a decided medium power can do when they put the means to it.
I’ve always thought that the UK would have done well to just buy the Mirage IV and Buccaneer to fill the TSR-2 requirement. An Avon, Spey or Olympus engined version would have been a great aircraft. Obviously the Royal Navy were always going to end up with the main deterrent role by the late 60s, but as a tactical nuclear bomber, it would have been great. It would also have been cheaper than developing TSR-2.
Although the expressed mission of the TSR-2 was different, the actually specification required in the associated OR is pretty much the same. Unfortunately, the TSR-2 was a victim of the issues of the UK's aerospace industry in the 1950s and the massive cut in funding after the Sandys report. It was due to be in service the year this Mirage entered it. The USN Vigilante was quite similar, apart from being carrier-capable and having having a munitions delivery system inspired by a hen.
The Mirage IVS (a Spey engined version) was offered by Dassault and BAC after the TSR-2 was cancelled, but Britain opted for the F-111K instead for political reasons. And then cancelled it too.
@@RedXlV I know about the later Spey engined proposal, I was thinking more pre-TSR-2 development. There are a number of interesting what-if Anglo-French projects, ranging from relatively simple Avon engined Mirage IIIs (as actually was tested for the RAAF), slightly modified Clemenceau class carriers instead of rebuilding Ark & Eagle (able to stick around until the 90s) and others. Ultimately the real problem with the Mirage IV is how you use it. It didn’t have the range or payload for genuine strategic bombing, but as a tactical bomber it was certainly a good option. If given a modest stand-off capability, they’d have been fit for use through to the 90s.
@@edsutherland8266 It's a pity Australia didn't go for the Avon Mirage III. Particularly since CAC was already license-building the non-afterburning versions of the Avon. The Avon 67 would've been a significant increase in thrust compared to the Atar. As for the Mirage IV's limited range, I'd love to know what sort of range the Mirage IVS would've had. The Spey turbofan isn't as thirsty an engine as the Atar turbojet.
@@Eric-kn4yn And he was always a french citizen, formed in France and have a lot of good local engineers and have a really good aviation industry in his country to help him and the designs of his firm...so no.
Actually if you're been in a French school prior to 1990 and the takeover of the liberal globalisation which now totally achieved to corrupt French elites and the subsequent administration of French schools .....It's VERY easy to understand why we could achieve that despite being such a "small" country ( a small country which have more fields medals per square meter than almost everywhere else , and invented a large portion of all the technologies of the "modern world " ) ..... Because you see , thanks to the very successful brainwashing within anglo saxon countries about anything non privatized being a communist antichrist genocide enterprise ( they even made you forget about christ in the scriptures washing the feet of prostitutes and doing miracles for the poor , which is a feat , but protestant reform was kind of magical in that sense ) , in anglo saxon countries you can only attain higher education if you already have money ( your parents money most of the time , or later in life when you accumulated enough but your brain's power is already declining ) , and there's a statistical problem with that , families with money don't only, automatically produce top shelf brains ( heh rich people like to fuck dumb models too , some families the wealth of which was born out of pure luck can be rich but not automatically very brilliant ) .....So only a very small population of rich people that can attain higher education at the right age , an even smaller proportion actually have the talent to put that higher education to groundbreaking use , wasting in the process hundreds of thousands of poor people brains who could have performed even better had they had access to the same higher education "free of charge" ( well no free from taxes , but well spent taxes who could have by the way of generated innovations created billions of profits for the country ) .... France *was a MERIT based society , where everybody had a shot at it , and let me tell ya , over the whole approx 57 millions of French citizens who had a shot at it , our state , however embarrassing for the anglo saxon liberal cult , could find more highly potent brains statistically , than in a mere 1-2-3 millions of very rich people able to access higher education in the anglo saxon countries , it's really basic statistics ....But your elites know that fact very well , and they're fine with it because they don't want to bother managing an educated population on a wide scale , nor paying for it , that's pretty much why they compensate by attracting internationally , very well formed brains from countries where education cost nothing with juicy salaries , and by sucking up all the data , inventions and patents they can extract from French and other European companies for free through NSA spying , repossessions of our companies by bankrupting them through international sanctions based legal weasel work , not even counting extra territoriality of the dollar based fines , which is basically worldwide brainpower parasitism made policy .....
Beautiful, yes, but resulting from the aerodynamic design of the time, like the Lockheed F-104, although this Dassault Mirage IV was perhaps the most elegant of them all. Also with area ruling. The Fairey Delta 2 also might compete - I will look at your video of that aircraft now. I have subscribed. Keep the videos coming, and best wishes to you and all your subscribers and commenters.
There was a Fairey Delta 3 which was a twin engined jet version of the record breaking Fairey Delta 2 which in my view looked a lot better than the EE Lightening and a lot more like the sleek Mirage fast jet line. Sadly Duncan Sands axe fell and left Fairey with a big dilemma because it's expected immediate customer was to be our armed services and when that got ruled out effectively so did any cash projections to realistically justify the cost of continuing development.
A very stunning looking aircraft. It was a while ago but I seem to remember reading that its method of delivering its nuclear weapon was to fly over the target then once it passed it to do a loop and tossed the bomb over its should just as the aircraft reached the top of the loop. The aircraft would complete the loop before flying off at high speed just as the bomb landed. Just imagine being on the ground at the target and watch the aircraft fly passed, then just as you thought you were safe you watch it do a loop and lob the bomb back your way.
I find it interesting that though a strategic bomber, it didn't have a bomb bay. This not only greatly affects the performance when carrying ordinance, but theaerodynamic heating didn't just apply to the airframe, but also applies to any weapons being carried externally. The British (for the TSR-2) found that any nuclear bombs carried externally were limited to 5 mins at mach 1.15 at low-level before the casing would be compromised.
Just think. A little Miarage IV, a little B-58, a little shake of British turbofan tech, and you've got a dandy medium/heavy attack bomber that might still be in service if they had built in a little extra room for engine and avionics upgrades. And? Everyone involved would have made a mint. It's a pity "allies" can't get along a little better.
Yorkshire aircraft museum - well worth a visit. I suspect that they 'landed' (ho-ho) the IV by dint of being a French RAF Bomber Command Squadron base in WWII - operating Halifaxes (obviously, since they're in Yorkshire 🤪 ). A fair amount of the museum is given over to preserving this heritage - but lots of planes there too.
Yes that’s exactly the reason why Elvington has a Mirage IV - the only example on public display outside of France. The French Air Force has maintained close ties with Yorkshire Air Museum in memory of their squadrons who flew from there during WW2. The Mirage IV was delivered to Elvington by a French Air Force pilot whose father had flown from the base during the war
@@SoloRenegade pretty much all of those you listed had a longer service life than the B-58. The B-17 had a service life of 30 years. Even the F7F managed the same ten years as the B-58 despite being during the transition to jet power. The B-58 managed ten years in a period of time with a slower rate of evolution than 1944-54. It's short for the period, although shared with a few other US aircraft of that time. A short service life in the late 1940s or early to mid-1950s is more typical as the pace of development was very rapid then. In the case of the Hustler, it was short because the mission profile evaporated, being superseded by ICBMs, and it's slightly surprising to me that it got built as it was clear it would have a short life from the outset, just covering a period when the number of ICBMs was not at intended strength, which ended in the mid-60s. The mission still existed for France as it didn't have ICBMs at the time.
I am reminded of watching a 1970s TV show in Britain about French fighter pilots flying Mirage IIIs I think. It was dubbed in English. The Mirage is a beautiful looking aircraft.
I have been fortunate enough to see one in the flesh at the Yorkshire museum. It’s one of those planes that looks even better in person! 😎 I remember as a kid reading or being told these would theoretically operate in pairs. With one refuelling the other to allow for extended range. Any truth to this?? Thanks for a great video!
I never heard of that capability, as stated France had to buy a fleet of tankers to be able tu refuel mid air. You may check ate chuet's video where he make a tour of the mirage iv with a pilot who flown it (his father actually, both are retired military pilots).
May 27th 1966 De Gaulle received the dramatic news that no fewer than 6 Mirage IV's had just crashed in the sea off Seville. This was upsetting news as it represented a pretty sizeable chunk of France's _Force_de_frappe_, the nuclear deterrent force. One can imagine he was almost relieved when the report was updated and showed that the incident in fact an involved not Mirages but older Mystère IV's!
we got Mirage in the 90 in Switzerland before the famous Eurofighter came and still a great Plane 2 decades later , now Mirage is replaced but still a nostalgic time
I really don’t get why so many say the Tomcat is beautiful: to me, it’s an ugly duckling and there have been far better looking military aircraft produced, even by the US, in fairness.
I have seen the Mirage 4 at the Yorkshire air museum (its just East of York - Not as polished as the RAF's museaum but an absolutley great place). I think York got it because there was a link to the plane? Its a huge thing towering on spindly legs. Near impressive as a Vulcan. In light of Ed's coverage one thought now arises ..... WHY did they not develop it also as an interceptor. The potential was phenominal.
They got the Mirage 1V (and other French aircraft) as Elvington was home to 2 Free French Halifax squadrons from 1944 to the end of WW2 and so have close ties to the French Air Force
Great detailed info. A remarkable aircraft, perhaps better suited than the even more elaborate B-58, and the in my mind, completely unsuitable F-105.(given its attrition rate in Vietnam)
Oh, how I love a needle-nosed aircraft. Fell in love with them as a boy of 10, naturally. This was what a jet was *supposed* to look like in the mid-1960s. Hmm... low level range enough for a one-way trip to the target. So essentially a cruise missile with a wet-meat guidance system.
You know if the Mirage IVs had dropped their atomic bombs on Moscow and the big Russian cities, it was because it was a one-way trip since France would have been nothing but a nuclear wasteland. Now, sacrificing your life for bloody revenge is very much in the French spirit.
Very cool plane, given Australia seemed pretty happy with its III’s- aside maybe it’s poor range, & I believe at the time they had interest in a longe range bomber, always surprised me they also didn’t buy some of these.
@@richardvernon317 eventually yes- but they were looking before that, even looked at things as varied as the B58 & vigilante (& probably the buccaneer not sure though).
RAAF never looked at anything big to replace the Canberra. They really didn't look at anything to replace it until 1963. Mirage IV, F-4C Phantom. Vigilante, TSR2 and F-111 were looked at in detail. F-111 was first choice, TSR-2 second, Vigilante third. F-4 and Mirage IV didn't make the cut. RAAF had Conventional war mission against Indonesia as the aircraft's primary role,
As a young French citizen back in 1990, I served my time in the French Air Force at the Mont de Marsan airbase. There, I had the privilege to see this amazing aircraft take off and land on a daily basis. I remember admiring it taking off with its afterburner from the window of my bedroom during sunset. The roaring engines and the elegant shape slowly vanishing as the planes began their alert patrols.
Back then I already knew the Mirage IV was already largely outdated but I never stopped admiring it and I really cherish my memories of this time.
With jammers, they would have been very useful over Kuwait in '90/'91 right through 'til today. Apparently B-52's over 30,000ft were used against forward SAM defended Iraqi positions with impunity. Interesting that altitude again meant safety. Bon jour.
Thanks for the real memories, they do add to the story.
Dassault, outre les patrons (héritiers) qui dégradent leur image, sont quand même un fleuron de la technologie. C'est d'ailleurs ce qui m'enrage encore plus envers ces "capitaines d'industries" en France: ils ne sont pas au niveau des industries qu'ils parasitent... Mais bref, je m'égare..
Oui les mirages, le rafale, et même pour le logiciel, les Français sont capables de faire de belles choses et de rivaliser avec les déluges de dollars dont bénéficient les compagnies US.
J'ai grandi a Biscarrosse, entre le CEV de Cazaux, et le CEL, on voyait souvent ces oiseaux de métal voler sur nos tètes, mon mentor en informatique travaillait pour le CEV et avec lui on partageait notre passion pour l'aéronautique... Dans les années 80, on voyait aussi des tirs d'ICBM, c'était fou, le bruit fracassant et de voir ces fusées partir dans le ciel, quand on était en primaire on galopait dans la cour pour voir ca.
Salutations d'un Gascon !
I was a maintainer in the Israeli Air Force in the 90s, mostly on F-4E "Kurnass".
I think the only cold war jet possibly more iconic than the Phantom, would be a Dassault Mirage-IV.
We had all French jets in the Six Day War : Super Mistare, Vatoure, & Mirrage III.
We had an old Vatoure on a pedistal in front of one of our squadrons HQ, it was big and ungainly, but had a vary long and usefull bomb payliad doors.
The Mirrage was before my time, but we still had a few Kfir in service.
Dassault make the most beautifully leathal jets.
@@trespire Super Mystère, Vautour, Mirage III. 🤓
Not only did you do a wonderful job with the mirage 4, you gave the reason France left NATO 's integrated command and the strategic objectives of the french deterrent in clear and simple terms. Good job !😊
This is a stuningly beautiful airframe.This is a real design masterpiece that can be examined at the Yorkshire aircraft museum. What amazed me was how thin all the airfoils were; better than the Lockheed starfighter.IMHO. Also the cockpits were plenty large enough. Great video - adding to the background of this historic plane.
The Mirage IV wing thickness is 3.8% root to 3.2% tip; the F-104 is 3.36%, according to wikipedia.
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 That is just a thickness to chord ratio. It doesn't give the nominal value of the thickness itself. To get thickness you multiply that percent by the chord
It is an absolute beauty, a Cold War masterpiece …. Big too ..
I have been to Elvington to see it … blew me away …
Large cockpit australia mirage 111 museum. I'm in cockpit too small I'm 193cm 103kg.
DONCASTER WOZ ERE 💯🤟🇬🇧
The Mirage IV was an attractive and capable platform wish fulfilled its design parameters well. The idea to base its development on existing proven technologies was a very smart and financially reasonable decision. Proving, in life you don't always have to start from scratch. Ed, that was a very insightful look at this aircraft. Thank you.
The much maligned French do so many things right. That being just one of the many.
@@stevenhoman2253 And if we stick to your ridiculous observations, do you have any idea of the percentage of their daily density?
Among the most beautiful aircraft ever created!
True
France put the 'art' in aircraft.
HP Victor is the best.
The archivements of the french postwar aeronautical industry are sadly totally under appreciated in the english speaking world.
LOL - not at all under-appreciated...just the standard French, "Pah, Zees 'wheel' is not from France! Ve vill zees re-invent from zee baxic mathematique!" Then proceed to re-invent everything from the circle on up, throw away any original plans and by dint of amazing amounts of work make the project successful anyways. France is *expected* to be competent so doesn't always get the seeming praise of the Anglo-sphere....Each nation that can makes its own weapons systems. One never knows when a change of power in an "Ally" turns them into your next enemy....
Not by all of us, but note where much of the R&D $ came from
The Pre War achievements are even more under appreciated: invention of the turbojet, the statoreactor (Ramjet), the Pulsoreactor,etc.
True.. it’s common in the English speaking places around the globe to basically ridicule and belittle anything French , possibly a carryover from the numerous French English wars that had become so common up until the 20th century.
When George W Bush wanted to invade Iraq, France advised against it. Up until the invasion, the French Armée de l'Aire had been flying Mirage 4 reconnaissance missions to get the pics the yank satellites couldn't get. France was proved right, the invasion had a bad outcome. And on CNN I saw one of the yank statesmen giving a speech which included "We'll have to consider what sanctions to take against the French" because they wouldn't join the invasion against the non-existent "Weapons of Mass Destruction". And there began a hate campaign in US against the French. French air hostesses were reviled by yank airport officials. Very good French engineers, very knowing French statesmen and diplomats. Typical bullying and blustering yank statesmen. Nice plane. I used to see them fly over my house in the 1990s (that's in the Lot département). Nice video. Thank you.
I mostly agree but have a quibble. Everyone in Bushco, including the US military and possibly Dubbya himself, knew what France knew. It wasn't a failure in intelligence, it was a wilful crime and everyone involved should have been handed over to a world court. I. Pete. An American patriot am the first to admit that.
Cheers!
Nothing triggers the inherent 'murican insecurity or feeling of inferiority like the French. The french on a cultural level, the British on an intellectual level.
The Mirage IV is such a beautiful old aircraft. One of my favorites!
To me it's the most beautiful Mirage ever! Such an elegant Aircraft! I don't know why I'm attracted to Delta Wings and Flying Wings but they just look beautiful! Simple form but effective! The presence is allmost like a Mini-Concorde...😎👌
The Mirage IV was flown by both Aérospatiale & BAC Concorde test pilot's before they first flew the prototype's, as it was expected to handle like a huge-Mirage IV too👍
the mirage family are such beautiful aircrafts
True
@@guaporeturns9472 🇮🇱
@@Eric-kn4yn 🇫🇷
Elegant and deadly.
A Mirrage-III flown by Giora Epstein holds the all time world record for confirmed kills in a fighter jet.
In the right hands, French built Dassault jets decimated Soviet/Russian jets, some were secretly piloted by Russian pilots.
@@trespire Love the Mirages..Joeseph McConnell shot down 16 during the Korean War… no helicopters though.
The Mirage's, no matter the version, are very beautifull and capable planes.
Were
Such a shame the Rafale wasn't brought into the Mirage family, it certainly inherits its predecessors good looks (at least in a clean configuration)
GREAT VIDEO about a GREAT AIRCRAFT (history indicates that it was successful in its nuclear deterrent role). I saw four Mirage IV's on the ground at Charles de Gaulle airport from the window of a taxiing 747 in December 1981, and I'll never forget the sight. I did not know there was an operational giant twin-engine Mirage so I was freaking out all the way back to the States until I could look it up. Probably the most beautiful aircraft I have ever seen, its only possible rival in that regard being the Northrop YF-23.
I worked without a Airbase oparate Mirage 2000-5 (air domination version) (But I Know this fighter in meeting At 11 years. Go inside for make a photo. 11 Old I already had difficulty getting into the Cockpit because it is so small) (I am a litel boy of 1 m90 or around 6.25 Ft to day)) Generally, I don't really like the design of American Aircraft, but I must admit that the LM Sr71 and Northrop YF-23 are beyond anything we have done in Europe, and even in France or Russia, generations ahead. Its planes look like they came out of a science fiction film. I think the Black Widow is the most beautiful and awesome airplane ever created.
The Yf-23 was so superior to the F22 in almost every way that it's hard to understand the choice (other than corruption)
When you see this plane, you have the impression of seeing a plane of a higher generation.
Its engineers put so much energy and work into making the plane successful, especially with the GE variable-cycle engines, its speed and its altitude.
It was refused for all projects, the superiority one, the bomber, and the modified version for the Navy, the Nataf. We say to ourselves that the Northrop engineers must have really had it wrong, and I have the balls for them.
We see that this very squashed and wide shape guarantees a small equivalent surface area. It was widely used on the last Russian Sukhoi.
To return to our good old Mirage 4 (Call us, “La pelle à tarte”) "Cake, pie server"
This is due to its super flat wings (supersonic flight) and its super long landing gear. On the ground, he had a really special look. (from the front, it also looked like we were seeing a medieval knight in armor. Or a pink flamingo walking.
What we can know about going back to the Mirage 4 is its ability to fly supersonic for a long time. 30 minutes at mach 2 and more than an hour at mach 1.8. The mirages 3 in training never manage to intercept it. (between his electronic warfare and his speed) he was untouchable. Which at the time was totally unique.
The Sr71 has superior possibilities, but its so difficult to oparate and the cary possibility are nothing comparable.
Another strength of the Mirage 4 is that it can completely change missions during its career.
When the U2 of Francis Gary Powers was brought down by the Soviets SAM, the French changed from the high altitude mission to combat infiltration at very low altitude. (to avoid radar)
And the bomber is wonderfully well adapted to the new flight characteristics.
The Mirage 4 will serve as the technological basis for the Concorde.
Its flight controls are the ancestor of the F.B.W. flight controls. French and European.
which will greatly accelerate the design of Concorde and subsequently give Fly by wire to Airbus and Dassault. Which are often far superior to other manufacturers.
For my part, my favorite Mirage (design) was the Mirage F1, with its small high wings and huge belly cans, it was our French F104.
It was fast, maneuverable and efficient (although its radar was a bit crap and worked when it wanted (overheating)
Via its best-of-the-moment missiles, it still knocked out a certain number of Iranian F14s, a much more sophisticated and expensive aircraft.
But in the military, technology does not always equate to success.
You only have to see Vietnam to understand.
Great video! The last time I was at French Air Force Base BA125, i was able to get up close to a Mirage IV they had on static display. Very impressive (and large!) airplane. Like you said beautiful and deadly.
I always liked the Mirage IV - a beautiful design that remained mission fit for a period of time that put most competitors to shame.
I don't think there is any other design in history in which a bomber frame was made from a scaled up fighter frame. If you can think of one, tell me please
@@decimated550
The similar Convair B-58A was heavily based on the F-102/F-106 basic designs, but wasn't simply an enlarged version of them, unlike the Mirage III/IV. 🤓
@@CharlesTaylor-o9p imaginE how easy it was to design the mirage IV...prolly took the designer a single evening to simply scale everything up! Imagine his boss when he came in the next morning which completely finished plans, scrolled under his arm kk kk
Thanks Ed. You never really get the sense of how big the aircraft actually was from the photos in flight. Nice job.
G'day,
You're not bloody wrong !
Growing up in Oz, I recall the transition from Vampires and Avon-Sabres overflying ANZAC Days and Canberra's beating-up little Country Town Aero-Club Fly-ins on Summer Weekends...; then we saw Mirage- III and Phantoms, then F-111 overflights.
I thus grew up being so used to seeing the Mirage III from all angles, and being much more interested in Camels and Spitfires, Triplanes and
Edit.
Posted early via Finga Trubble...l
...Triplanes and Messerschmitts, that I never read anything about the Mirage-IV and thus if I thought anything about it my impression was that it was "probably" an "updated version of" the Mirage III...; but I cannot swear to being aware of the Second Seat nor the Second Powerplant, and certainly I was unaware that the Mirage-IV was visually a M.-III which had been upscaled in every Dimension by 50% or 60%, while discretely adding in a second Cockpit behind the Pilot and two Engines fitted side-by-side....
So in Photographs, unless something fairly jarring is in-frame, to enforce a sense of Scale it's never previously struck me that the M.-IV was so very much bigger than the M.-III...; I apparently always interpreted the Photo' as being a Mirage-III by misunderconstumbling the distance and therefore getting the scale wrong - and moving on (to something "more interesting" - with a Propeller or several).
Somewhere between Confirmation Bias and Domestic Blindness, and seeing what I expected to look at - I suppose.
Such is life,
Have a good one...
Stay safe.
;-p
Ciao !
Great video👍🙂
Various Mirage models were used during South Africa's Border War from the late 1970's up the early 1990's operated by the previous SAAF.
They stood up well against various Soviet supplied aircraft, operated by the then front line states and ofcourse in the skies of Southern Angola.
When the SABC TV was launched in 1975/6 there was also a French dubbed TV mini series 'Mirage' featuring the daily trials and tribulations of 2 French pilots.
Some good videos are still on YT featuring the Swiss Air force operating their Mirages in some thrillingly flying in the Alps.
The Dassault company built some beautiful aircraft and the Mirage III and IV are a beautiful example of the French approach to engineering, as in the Citroen DS-19 and the CGSB's .375 SR-73 revolver.
The DS-19, has a suprising ammont of aviation technology in its design.
Eng. Paul Magés designed the revolutonary hydropneumatic suspention system.
and most recently the Rafale but not only
They also build gorgeous private jets. Falcon 8x
The French sure do make some sexy aircraft! Thanks for another great video!
Nice video on a beautiful airplane. Thanks a lot!
My word what a super talk about an absolutely lovely aircraft - not one I knew anything about so all the more enjoyable for that!!
96/08 escadron de reconnaissance Gascogne BA 118 , i was there , and i had the privilleige to sit in the cockpit once !a beautiful bird !
It was nice seeing the Vautour. Hint, hint... it would make a great subject for a video.
Yes … you may dare say beautiful.. I entirely agree ..!
Great Video, you don't see many on this beautiful looking machine. Ty!
THANKS Mr Ed Nash....That sure is a beautiful Aeroplane 👍
Old Navy Flying Shoe🇺🇸 in my 80's....
I'm surprised, I always wanted a video on two obscure aircraft. The Sukhoi SU-15 Flagon and the Dassault mirage IV. Finally got one of them.
Hello, they are many in French like this one. Just use subtitles and from parameters select your native language to enjoy it. ruclips.net/video/Y4xjSObEvFs/видео.html
0:45 "...often overlooked role in the Manhattan project". I find it amazing how many non-US participants were simply airbrushed out of the Manhattan project.
Always thought it was the best looking Mirage (close run with the 2000).
Beautiful, elegant design in ALL ASPECTS!! DASSAULT did a MASTERFUL JOB EARLY ON and followed an EVOLUTIONARY DESIGN PHILOSOPHY that would give the FRENCH AIR FORCES a VERSATILE PLATFORM that not only FULFILLED IT'S BASIC MISSION AGENDA of PLAUSIBLE DETERRENCE in the MUTUALLY ASSURED DESTRUCTION ROLE of BALANCE OF
POWER WORLD POLITICS but was also CAPABLE of being FURTHER MODIFIED/ADAPTED to RENDER ADDITIONAL SERVICES!!! And it did so with such ELEGANT SAVOIR FAIRE!!
DETENT with SOPHISTICATED BEAUTY, EH WHAT!?!? The FRENCH ENGINEERING AND DESIGN is TOP NOTCH as well!! The way they TUCKED EXTRA FUEL INTO EVERY POSSIBLE NOOK AND CRANNY was BRILLIANT!! This was DICTATED BY THE DEMANDS OF NEEDING MORE FUEL for LARGER and MORE POWERFUL ENGINES but also by the need to SUSTAIN MACH 2 for at least 30 MINUTES of MISSION PROFILE!! WOW!! IN MY YOUTH(13,14,15), my BEST FRIEND and FELLOW MODELLER BUILT MANY FINELY DETAILED and ARTICULATED MODELS of ALL KINDS OF MILITARY MACHINES as well as SHIPS(USS IOWA for EXAMPLE), TANKS(RUSSIAN and US/NATO) and HOT ROD AUTOMOBILES!! I HAD A LARGER SCALE P-38 LIGHTNING that was MOLDED IN CHROME that MIMICKED the ORIGINAL POLISHED ALUMINUM FUSELAGE from the FACTORY and also the SAME LARGE SCALE, POLISHED ALUMINUM LOOKING FUSELAGE in a B58 HUSTLER!! They were TIME-CONSUMING BUILDS REQUIRING CAREFUL ATTENTION TO DETAILS and HANDLING OF COMPONENTS!! A CARELESS DROP OF GLUE or SPLASH OF PAINT meant a DISASTER(WE WEREN'T RICH KIDS ON AN UNLIMITED BUDGET)!! ALL OF OUR PERSONNEL, PILOTS and TANK COMMANDERS were DONE WITH THE SAME EXACTING CARE!! SPENT ALL OUR ALLOWANCES and whatever money we could earn doing odd jobs(like shovelling out driveways and mowing lawns for people in our neighborhood), so we were very want to DO IT RIGHT the FIRST TIME!! WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE ONE OF THESE MIRAGE IVs HANGING FROM MY CEILING or SITTING ON MY BOOKSHELVES!! FORM FOLLOWS FUNCTION is an OLD TRIED AND TRUE DESIGN
AXIOM, BUT THE FRENCH HAVE DONE IT with SUPERB STYLE!!
C'EST SI BON, MON AMI!! C'EST SI BON!! FORMIDABLE!! ADIEU!!!
Always wanted to see some videos on this plane. Its an interesting idea for sure.
If I remember it, the Mirage IV was designed that way because operated from bases in France, they didn't need a big plane to fly nuclear weapons long ranges, since the French didn't contemplate delivering nuclear weapons any further east of Moscow.
This is one of my favorite, Cold War combat aircraft.
Thank you for this.
☮
To me the III is most elegant Western jet until the arrival of the F15.
Well-made and very interesting documentary. Thank you Ed Nash's Military Matters for this good job.
With it's Mirages family of aircraft Dassault just got it wright. Both affordable and reliable.
Very nice. I have always thought it was just a prototype because I've known about the IV but hardly saw any photos of it, but now I know.
Beautiful aircraft. I was next to one at an airshow once and was amazed at the size of it!
Serious consideration was given to a re-engined Mirage IV as an alternative to TSR-2. Also gives us some idea what the developed thin-winged Javelin might have looked like.
Speaking of the "sleek looks" I think that may have a lot to do with the development of the Fairey Delta II - Dassault were kind enough to allow Fairey airbase facilties after our british government issued too much red tape for it to continue it's supersonic flight testing. The Fairey Delta II was a record breaking single engined supersonic prototype that lost out after Duncan Sands took an axe to our air force development budgets - the Fairey Delta 3 was a twin engined jet that would certainly have given the famous English Electric Lightening a run for it's money but sadly Duncan's axe fell leaving Dassault with a lot of know how in the development of it's own aircraft - not all was lost with the Fairey Delta though even from the British perspective - the hinged nose for example was adopted in the development of the Anglo-French Concord. Our biggest impediment was NOT lack of technology or innovation but rather political intrigue and shortsightedness again from the political class.
I hope to see a video on the Mirage IIING/EX or Mirage 50/50M in the future
The Mirage family is just an absolute goldmine of beautiful airframes
Dassault Bloch 🇮🇱
@@Eric-kn4yn No. Not at all, even today Israel can't do an combat aircraft, and no the Lavi is not a success...
@@Balrog2005 The Kfir exists, and it's still in service with at least 3-4 export customers
@@Tigershark_3082 Totally based on the Dassault Mirage 5 plans were ''stolen'', thanks to prove my point.
Beautiful airplane.. Thanks for throwing this video together. 👏❤️
Beautiful aircraft. I've yet to get to Elvington to see their example, but will do this year.
I was raised in Cognac, where there is an important air base (709) for French air force pilots training. We used to go sometimes to the big annual Air Show at the military base, and I was in love with the Mirage F1 (he was the king of the show most of the time, back then).
Then one year they announced at the mic that we would have a surprise, the visit of a mirage IV nuclear bomber, that just took off from Mont-de-Marson airbase !
And then a few minutes later we saw this huge plane (twice the size of the Mirage F1) and his impressive noise flying low over us... Then he made a very large U turn (out of sight for a long time) and came back over us...
This took place around 1978 I guess, and I still have this image and sound in my mind.
That’s so cool. Love French aviation
Only recently struck me that the Mirages got supersonic fighter thing nailed way before Britain ever did.
(The Lightning was more an interceptor truck.)
'the' supersonic fighter thing, sorry.
The Lightning was a sparkling performer, but it kinda cheated by leaving all its fuel on the ground!
Happy New Year Ed!
Happy new year!
Great video, Ed.
Happy new year mate, I had heard that Dassualt himself expressed the idea, that if it looks beautiful, it will fly well, as a guiding design principle. We Aussies had the Mirage III's I think, and until seeing one up close, it isn't apparent how tiny the craft is. A former pilot was nearby for comments, and he was informative, short and not very stocky. Had he been any taller, I doubt he would have fitted the cockpit. This reminds me of British pilots transitioning to American fighters in WWII, where they would comment that the Americans had large, roomy cockpits in their craft. (likely the P-47?)
Yes adelaide a/c museum parafield.mirage 111. Cockpit too small I'm 193cm 103kgs
@@Eric-kn4yn There is only so far you can pull your head in and raise your knees, especially if you expect to eject, keeping any of your limbs. A fellow, I know, was a former USAF F-16 pilot till his retirement. He was fairly diminutive, but that is an advantage in G-lock situations, I believe. He flew them for well over 20 years and still loves them. (it being one of my secret loves, too.) Another aircraft that is astonishingly small, in the flesh, is the English Electric Canberra bomber. It usually makes a showing at the Melb. Int. Air Show just inside the entrance. A remarkable aircraft in every way, and the roles it could fulfil, leaving it to become the only aircraft the proud Americans have ever been forced to purchase from a foreign supplier. Tremendous range and altitude, sans a refuelling ability; with a camera and/or bomb capacity.(Boscombe Downs to Washington, DC @ 50,000 ft without being spotted on radar) At a comfortable enough pace, for Wing Commander and senior test pilot Beaumont at the stick.
@@stevenhoman2253 The Americans bought the Harrier too
One of the best looking bombers ever built tbh.
Not stealthy for 21C
@@Eric-kn4yn Stealth wasn't really a thing back when this plane was built. And what's more stealth does *nothing* for a plane's aestetics.
Juste some clarification if I may as an old Frenchman now:
1:13: the development of the French A bomb had nothing to do with prestige: the aim was mainly for international policy, being then part of the "super-powers club", so to speak and, above all, being really independant.
9:00: we know now that, although an amount of bombers was permanently on "hot" alert, there has never been aircrafts in the air over France carrying their bombs, at least out of periods of high tension ...
The rest is perfectly correct.
Regards
Brilliant channel. Better than telly.
Thank you!
Let's face it's the most beautiful machine ever made.
Happy New Year Ed, and Please God a good one viewing your fine content
There's no 'god'.
Sorry.
@@kiereluurs1243 I can't make you believe, but I do so sorry to you
The most beautiful jet ever made
The mirage is not forgotten.
such a beauty
Yes indeed, an almost forgotten type. The Mirage IV is a most enigmatic military aircraft. In the same way, RAF Lightnings found it hard to lock onto Vulcan's, so it was for FAF Mirage III's to target Mirage IV's. Indeed. I read that Mirage IV's could even best it's smaller brother in high altitude close combat!
A beautiful aircraft.
The Mirage was the first Airfix kit I built - must have been about 1966.
Good choice. I can see why you picked it
Hey Ed, thank you for making such informed and interesting videos.
If you’re looking for ideas I’d be interested in the history of Hispano Suisa’s contribution to aviation.
I’m a pilot and am familiar with most of the other companies mentioned including power plants and armaments.
Thanks again for the great work!
I saw the Mirage IV in the 90’s. Incredible plane.
It would be great to see you talk about the whole french military aircraft history…
At least ! Thanks a lot. One of the best planes of the Cold War era and a good exemple of what a decided medium power can do when they put the means to it.
Loved F117 after burner,wicked 🖤
I’ve always thought that the UK would have done well to just buy the Mirage IV and Buccaneer to fill the TSR-2 requirement. An Avon, Spey or Olympus engined version would have been a great aircraft. Obviously the Royal Navy were always going to end up with the main deterrent role by the late 60s, but as a tactical nuclear bomber, it would have been great. It would also have been cheaper than developing TSR-2.
Although the expressed mission of the TSR-2 was different, the actually specification required in the associated OR is pretty much the same. Unfortunately, the TSR-2 was a victim of the issues of the UK's aerospace industry in the 1950s and the massive cut in funding after the Sandys report. It was due to be in service the year this Mirage entered it. The USN Vigilante was quite similar, apart from being carrier-capable and having having a munitions delivery system inspired by a hen.
The Mirage IVS (a Spey engined version) was offered by Dassault and BAC after the TSR-2 was cancelled, but Britain opted for the F-111K instead for political reasons. And then cancelled it too.
@@RedXlV Yes, the F-111K was a really botched project :(
@@RedXlV I know about the later Spey engined proposal, I was thinking more pre-TSR-2 development. There are a number of interesting what-if Anglo-French projects, ranging from relatively simple Avon engined Mirage IIIs (as actually was tested for the RAAF), slightly modified Clemenceau class carriers instead of rebuilding Ark & Eagle (able to stick around until the 90s) and others.
Ultimately the real problem with the Mirage IV is how you use it. It didn’t have the range or payload for genuine strategic bombing, but as a tactical bomber it was certainly a good option. If given a modest stand-off capability, they’d have been fit for use through to the 90s.
@@edsutherland8266 It's a pity Australia didn't go for the Avon Mirage III. Particularly since CAC was already license-building the non-afterburning versions of the Avon. The Avon 67 would've been a significant increase in thrust compared to the Atar.
As for the Mirage IV's limited range, I'd love to know what sort of range the Mirage IVS would've had. The Spey turbofan isn't as thirsty an engine as the Atar turbojet.
The French just understand omirole fighters more than anyone. It’s remarkable that such a small country can produce world class fighters.
Dassault was Bloch 🇮🇱
@@Eric-kn4yn And he was always a french citizen, formed in France and have a lot of good local engineers and have a really good aviation industry in his country to help him and the designs of his firm...so no.
Actually if you're been in a French school prior to 1990 and the takeover of the liberal globalisation which now totally achieved to corrupt French elites and the subsequent administration of French schools .....It's VERY easy to understand why we could achieve that despite being such a "small" country ( a small country which have more fields medals per square meter than almost everywhere else , and invented a large portion of all the technologies of the "modern world " ) .....
Because you see , thanks to the very successful brainwashing within anglo saxon countries about anything non privatized being a communist antichrist genocide enterprise ( they even made you forget about christ in the scriptures washing the feet of prostitutes and doing miracles for the poor , which is a feat , but protestant reform was kind of magical in that sense ) , in anglo saxon countries you can only attain higher education if you already have money ( your parents money most of the time , or later in life when you accumulated enough but your brain's power is already declining ) , and there's a statistical problem with that , families with money don't only, automatically produce top shelf brains ( heh rich people like to fuck dumb models too , some families the wealth of which was born out of pure luck can be rich but not automatically very brilliant ) .....So only a very small population of rich people that can attain higher education at the right age , an even smaller proportion actually have the talent to put that higher education to groundbreaking use , wasting in the process hundreds of thousands of poor people brains who could have performed even better had they had access to the same higher education "free of charge" ( well no free from taxes , but well spent taxes who could have by the way of generated innovations created billions of profits for the country ) ....
France *was a MERIT based society , where everybody had a shot at it , and let me tell ya , over the whole approx 57 millions of French citizens who had a shot at it , our state , however embarrassing for the anglo saxon liberal cult , could find more highly potent brains statistically , than in a mere 1-2-3 millions of very rich people able to access higher education in the anglo saxon countries , it's really basic statistics ....But your elites know that fact very well , and they're fine with it because they don't want to bother managing an educated population on a wide scale , nor paying for it , that's pretty much why they compensate by attracting internationally , very well formed brains from countries where education cost nothing with juicy salaries , and by sucking up all the data , inventions and patents they can extract from French and other European companies for free through NSA spying , repossessions of our companies by bankrupting them through international sanctions based legal weasel work , not even counting extra territoriality of the dollar based fines , which is basically worldwide brainpower parasitism made policy .....
There is one in Le Bourget aviation museum, I believe in the corner of the Concorde hanger. This is a bloody big aircraft!
Beautiful Aircraft !
Beautiful, yes, but resulting from the aerodynamic design of the time, like the Lockheed F-104, although this Dassault Mirage IV was perhaps the most elegant of them all. Also with area ruling. The Fairey Delta 2 also might compete - I will look at your video of that aircraft now. I have subscribed. Keep the videos coming, and best wishes to you and all your subscribers and commenters.
There was a Fairey Delta 3 which was a twin engined jet version of the record breaking Fairey Delta 2 which in my view looked a lot better than the EE Lightening and a lot more like the sleek Mirage fast jet line. Sadly Duncan Sands axe fell and left Fairey with a big dilemma because it's expected immediate customer was to be our armed services and when that got ruled out effectively so did any cash projections to realistically justify the cost of continuing development.
A very stunning looking aircraft. It was a while ago but I seem to remember reading that its method of delivering its nuclear weapon was to fly over the target then once it passed it to do a loop and tossed the bomb over its should just as the aircraft reached the top of the loop. The aircraft would complete the loop before flying off at high speed just as the bomb landed.
Just imagine being on the ground at the target and watch the aircraft fly passed, then just as you thought you were safe you watch it do a loop and lob the bomb back your way.
Always enjoy your presentations.
Another great aircraft. Thanks for pronouncing D'assaut correctement. Cheers. 💙 💛
I got shouted at a lot in previous videos so try to get it right 😁
I've always thought the Mirage IV was one of the sexiest mach two aircraft ever flown. If it looks good, it (usually) flies good.
I find it interesting that though a strategic bomber, it didn't have a bomb bay.
This not only greatly affects the performance when carrying ordinance, but theaerodynamic heating didn't just apply to the airframe, but also applies to any weapons being carried externally. The British (for the TSR-2) found that any nuclear bombs carried externally were limited to 5 mins at mach 1.15 at low-level before the casing would be compromised.
Just think. A little Miarage IV, a little B-58, a little shake of British turbofan tech, and you've got a dandy medium/heavy attack bomber that might still be in service if they had built in a little extra room for engine and avionics upgrades. And? Everyone involved would have made a mint.
It's a pity "allies" can't get along a little better.
Hmm...I think I need to go and find my Heller 1/48 kit of this beauty and start building .
Yorkshire aircraft museum - well worth a visit.
I suspect that they 'landed' (ho-ho) the IV by dint of being a French RAF Bomber Command Squadron base in WWII - operating Halifaxes (obviously, since they're in Yorkshire 🤪 ).
A fair amount of the museum is given over to preserving this heritage - but lots of planes there too.
Yes that’s exactly the reason why Elvington has a Mirage IV - the only example on public display outside of France. The French Air Force has maintained close ties with Yorkshire Air Museum in memory of their squadrons who flew from there during WW2. The Mirage IV was delivered to Elvington by a French Air Force pilot whose father had flown from the base during the war
Beautiful aircraft.
Excellent video, thanks !
Glad you liked it!
I have always liked the look of the Mirage 👍
This plane is basically what Convair B-58 Hustler supposed to be but without the bugs and glitches.
The B-58 had almost 3 times the range and a substantially longer supersonic cruise time.
@@mikearmstrong8483 and an incredibly short service life.
@@wbertie2604 so did the B-17, B-36, B-29, F-86, F-100, F8F, F7F, etc.
Service life means nothing.
@@SoloRenegade Especially during an era of rapid evolution in both technology and warfighting doctrine.
@@SoloRenegade pretty much all of those you listed had a longer service life than the B-58. The B-17 had a service life of 30 years. Even the F7F managed the same ten years as the B-58 despite being during the transition to jet power. The B-58 managed ten years in a period of time with a slower rate of evolution than 1944-54. It's short for the period, although shared with a few other US aircraft of that time. A short service life in the late 1940s or early to mid-1950s is more typical as the pace of development was very rapid then. In the case of the Hustler, it was short because the mission profile evaporated, being superseded by ICBMs, and it's slightly surprising to me that it got built as it was clear it would have a short life from the outset, just covering a period when the number of ICBMs was not at intended strength, which ended in the mid-60s. The mission still existed for France as it didn't have ICBMs at the time.
I am reminded of watching a 1970s TV show in Britain about French fighter pilots flying Mirage IIIs I think. It was dubbed in English. The Mirage is a beautiful looking aircraft.
ruclips.net/video/bZVsVd0vKQE/видео.html
What a beauty
I have been fortunate enough to see one in the flesh at the Yorkshire museum. It’s one of those planes that looks even better in person! 😎
I remember as a kid reading or being told these would theoretically operate in pairs. With one refuelling the other to allow for extended range. Any truth to this??
Thanks for a great video!
I never heard of that capability, as stated France had to buy a fleet of tankers to be able tu refuel mid air.
You may check ate chuet's video where he make a tour of the mirage iv with a pilot who flown it (his father actually, both are retired military pilots).
A greatly interesting video.So the MirageIV was something between the F111 and Vbombers?Have a good one.
May 27th 1966 De Gaulle received the dramatic news that no fewer than 6 Mirage IV's had just crashed in the sea off Seville. This was upsetting news as it represented a pretty sizeable chunk of France's _Force_de_frappe_, the nuclear deterrent force.
One can imagine he was almost relieved when the report was updated and showed that the incident in fact an involved not Mirages but older Mystère IV's!
Was Mystere IV not Mirage IV
@Bertrand Violette Oui mais l'anecdote est plus riche:
ruclips.net/video/yGZhrCTP6i0/видео.html
À bon entendeur!
@Bertrand Violette Rôh, on peut quand même imaginer un subalterne chargé de transmettre l'info mélanger ses Mystère avec ses Mirage?
It looks as if the Avro Arrow and T.S.R-2 had had a lovechild.
More so, it looks like they tried to scale a Mirage up to be that size but got nervous and put it on a diet.
Only the child survived the birthing
we got Mirage in the 90 in Switzerland before the famous Eurofighter came
and still a great Plane 2 decades later , now Mirage is replaced but still a nostalgic time
You almost bought the Rafale though, the Mirage's child, that is imho much more aesthetic than the F35.
The Rafale is an incredible aircraft
Really neat jet. I’d love to get a 1/32 plastic model of one of these.
I hope you have a large shelf to put it on 😇
@@razorback20 I’d have to find some space between all my other fighters…. I’ll make it work.
Like what the Gloster Javelin should have looked like: Supersexy w/ a cyclops radar eye in her belly
For me it's just the most beautiful aircraft ever made, along the F-14.
I really don’t get why so many say the Tomcat is beautiful: to me, it’s an ugly duckling and there have been far better looking military aircraft produced, even by the US, in fairness.
Nice work!
Happy new year Ed.
Great video!
Mr. Ed Nash,
can you make a video on the 1st French jet plane of the post war era, the ‘Espadon’ ?
Thank you !
I have seen the Mirage 4 at the Yorkshire air museum (its just East of York - Not as polished as the RAF's museaum but an absolutley great place). I think York got it because there was a link to the plane?
Its a huge thing towering on spindly legs. Near impressive as a Vulcan.
In light of Ed's coverage one thought now arises ..... WHY did they not develop it also as an interceptor. The potential was phenominal.
They got the Mirage 1V (and other French aircraft) as Elvington was home to 2 Free French Halifax squadrons from 1944 to the end of WW2 and so have close ties to the French Air Force
@@dcmchugh99 Now you've reminded me I think there's a plaque to that effect with the Mirage 4
(Thanks David)
Great detailed info. A remarkable aircraft, perhaps better suited than the even more elaborate B-58, and the in my mind, completely unsuitable F-105.(given its attrition rate in Vietnam)
Attrition rate do to a drunken president running the war.
Leave it to the French to produce attractive and even sexy machines of mass destruction.
🇮🇱 dassault
Oh, how I love a needle-nosed aircraft. Fell in love with them as a boy of 10, naturally. This was what a jet was *supposed* to look like in the mid-1960s.
Hmm... low level range enough for a one-way trip to the target. So essentially a cruise missile with a wet-meat guidance system.
You know if the Mirage IVs had dropped their atomic bombs on Moscow and the big Russian cities, it was because it was a one-way trip since France would have been nothing but a nuclear wasteland.
Now, sacrificing your life for bloody revenge is very much in the French spirit.
If it's pretty yet deadly, its French.
The economics of budget limitations. Every round matters. Europe doesn't have anything like the US military budget.
Very cool plane, given Australia seemed pretty happy with its III’s- aside maybe it’s poor range, & I believe at the time they had interest in a longe range bomber, always surprised me they also didn’t buy some of these.
They bought the F-111C to do the mission.
They were wanting more fuel pods "down under"
@@richardvernon317 eventually yes- but they were looking before that, even looked at things as varied as the B58 & vigilante (& probably the buccaneer not sure though).
RAAF never looked at anything big to replace the Canberra. They really didn't look at anything to replace it until 1963. Mirage IV, F-4C Phantom. Vigilante, TSR2 and F-111 were looked at in detail. F-111 was first choice, TSR-2 second, Vigilante third. F-4 and Mirage IV didn't make the cut. RAAF had Conventional war mission against Indonesia as the aircraft's primary role,
Ask Washington !
At first the French had to use Vautour as tankers for the Mirage IV before they got the KC-135s.