The Caravelle was the outcome of a specification issued by the French SGACC (Secrétariat Général à l'Aviation Commerciale et Civile). 2 prototypes were ordered in 1953, with the first flight taking place on Mai 27, 1955. The complete nose section was copied from the De Havilland Comet, at that time the only jet airliner in commercial service. First orders came from Air France and SAS, with other airlines following soon after. Even American companies showed interest in the French airliner, with United Airlines ordering 20.

What made the Caravelle unique was the positioning of the engines, aft of the passenger cabin. Publicity campaigns stressed the absence of any noise due to this arrangement. The concept was later copied in other aircraft designs, including the Boeing 727, Douglas DC9, Bac 1-11, De Havilland DH.121, Tupolev Tu 134.

The production line closed after 282 aircraft had been produced (2 flying prototypes and 280 production aircraft - there were also 2 static test examples). Some aircraft entered service with air forces, including some radar trainers in the Swedish Air Force. Others ended their days for experimental purposes, one being used in the development of the CFM-56 engine. One has been in use for Zero-gravity flights.

- Sud Aviation started some cooperation with Douglas in view of series production in the States. Douglas even designed a new so called 'high speed' wing, but finally quit the project to develop its own DC 9.

- The electrical system of the first Caravelles was hardly to be called one of the best. On countless occassions, airport fire departments were alarmed that a landing Caravelle had no 'locked' indication on its undercarriage. Fortunately, in most cases it was just a matter of faulty indication lights.

- The preservation of Sabena's Caravelle OO-SRA in the Brussels AELR museum is a story in its own. When Sabena retired the ageing airliner, they decided that at least one example was worthy of preservation. They had a special trolley made by the Technics department in order to transport the wingless fuselage from Brussels National airport to the museum near the city centre. Transport went ahead overnight, so one morning a puzzled museum conservator was confronted with a Caravelle fuselage and a set of wings in front of his museum. Due to lack of information he did not expect the airliner there ! After a while it was taken inside the museum building but had to wait several years before sufficient funds could be raised to mount it on poles inside the huge building. It now permanently overlooks the rest of the museum's collection.

- The name of 'Super Caravelle' has been applied to some versions of the airliner, but the latest official use of the name was for design studies of what later became the Concorde. The use of the Super Caravelle acronym was convenient enought, since it stressed the fact that the supersonic airliner would become the successor to the 1950's subsonic Caravelle.

- prototype 01 and 02 (F-WHHH and F-WHHI)

- Caravelle I : initial production version, fuselage extended by 0.5 m compared to the prototypes. 19 built - Rolls Royce Avon engines.

- Caravelle I A : Caravelle I with detail modifications. 13 built - Rolls Royce Avon engines.

- Caravelle III : more powerful Avon engines, externally identical to the Caravelle I, certificated for higher weights. 78 built, 31 Caravelle I's converted to III standard.

- Caravelle VI N : more powerful Avon RA29 engines, otherwise identical to the Caravelle III. 53 built, 5 Caravelle III's converted to VI N standard.

- Caravelle VI R : VI N with thrust reversers on the Avon engines. 56 built

- Caravelle 7A : Caravelle III converted with General Electric engines. Prototype only.

- Caravelle 10A : proposed production version of the Caravelle 7 with a longer fuselage. Not built.

- Caravelle 10B : based on the 10A, but with Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines. 22 built

- Caravelle 10R : based on the VI R, but with Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines replacing the ageing Avons. 20 built.

- Caravelle 11R : similar to the 10R but provided with a large cargo door for mixed passenger/cargo transport. 6 built.

- Caravelle 12 : 10B with a 3.20m longer fuselage. 12 built.

(contemporary publicity pages copied from Aviation Magazine International)

Caravelle III F-BKGZ 'Comté de Foix', Air France.

This aircraft, originally F-BJTC was ordered by Air France but leased to Air Liban as OD-ADY in 1961 before finally coming to the French carrier as 'Bourbonnais'. It was rechristened 'Comté de Foix' and leased to Royal Air Lao as XW-PNH. It returned to Air France and obtained the new registration F-BKGZ. Finally, it was involved in an accident at Ho Chi Minh city on August 30, 1976.

(many thanks to Laurent Herjean who provided this information)

Caravelle III F-BJTR 'Principauté de Monaco'

On December 29, 1980 this aircraft became the property of the Musée de l'Air at Le Bourget. Unfortunately, lack of funds precluded definitive preservation and the aircraft was scrapped in 1997.

(many thanks to Laurent Herjean who provided this information)

Caravelle III F-BNKC, Air Inter

Caravelle 10B3 F-GHKN, Air Toulouse International

Part of the Catair Caravelle fleet at Le Bourget

(Photo copied from postcard - The Aviation Buffs archives)

Caravelle III HB-ICW 'Solothurn', Swissair

Caravelle III HB-ICZ, Swissair

(Copied from Swissair postcard - The Aviation Buffs Archive)

Caravelle 10R HB-ICN, SATA

(Copied from SATA postcard - The Aviation Buffs Archive)

Caravelle VI N I-DABV, Alitalia

(Copied from Iris postcard - The Aviation Buffs Archive)

Caravelle I-DABA, Alitalia

(Copied from Alitalia postcard - The Aviation Buffs Archive)

Caravelle VI R LX-LGF, Luxair

Caravelle VI N OD-AEF, Middle East Airlines / Air Liban (MEA)

Caravelle VI R OO-CVA of Belgian International Aviation Services (1971)

(Photo by unknown photographer - The Aviation Buffs archives)

Caravelle VI N OO-SRA of Sabena

The top picture shows the aircraft immediately after entering Sabena service, hence its original paint scheme. The bottom picture shows the same aircraft as it is nowadays, mounted on poles in the huge hall of the Brussels AELR museum.

(Top picture by unknown photographer - The Aviation Buffs archives, bottom picture provided by Dirk Lenssens)

Caravelle VI N OO-SRG, Sabena

(Photo copied from postcard - The Aviation Buffs archives)

Caravelle I OY-KRA 'Vagn Viking', SAS

(Photo copied from SAS postcard - The Aviation Buffs archives)

Caravelle I , SAS

(Revell 1/100 scale kit boxtop artwork, The Aviation Buffs archives)

Caravelle I PP-VJC, Varig

Caravelle 10R TC-AKA of Istanbul Airlines