An Absurd French Trial
What can we say about aircraft that take off vertically? Every country wants them, and even if they fail the first test, they’ll give it another shot. Unfortunately, some of these failed tests end in disastrous results, and the militaries who conduct them learn little from them.
The Dassault Balzac V was France’s attempt to develop a fighter jet that could launch vertically. It was a disaster in the first test: the plane crashed and the pilot died. The French military, on the other hand, persisted and tried again with a fresh, but comparable prototype. It, too, crashed, but the pilot was able to eject before suffering any injuries.