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02/28/2008. SFECMAS (Société Française d’Etude et de Constructions de Matériel Aéronautiques Spéciaux) developed this aircraft for supersonic flight research. This first French high-powered delta-wing jet-aircraft was first flown by André Turcat on January 15, 1954, and on August 3, it was the first European-built aircraft to exceed Mach 1 in level flight without the use of afterburner or rocket power. The photo was taken during one of its initial flights, showing the two braking parachute containers at the base of the fin (the upper one was later removed) and the absence of the main landing gear doors. Late 1954 the company merged into Société National de Constructions de Aéronautiques du Nord.