09/30/2014. Remarks by Walter van Tilborg and Johan Visschedijk: "Sud-Aviation and Nord Aviation, two State-owned French aircraft manufacturers, began co-operating in the late 1960s on a project for a light jet business aircraft/commuter airliner designed primarily for the North American market. Development of the aircraft proceeded when the two companies merged into SNIAS (Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale) on January 1, 1970.

The prototype, designated SN 600, was powered by two 2,205 lb (1,000 kg) st Pratt & Whitney of Canada JT15D-1 turbofan engines mounted in pods on either side of the rear fuselage, and featured a large dorsal fairing, which was not used on production aircraft. Registered F-WRSN (c/n 01), this aircraft was first flown by Robert Briot and Jean Caillard from Melun-Villaroche on July 16, 1970. However, 270 flying hours later, March 21, 1971, the aircraft was lost at Istres while performing stall tests; the three crew were killed.

Two development SN 601 prototypes followed, making their maiden flights on December 20, 1972 (F-WUAS c/n 1) and March 7, 1973 (F-WRNZ c/n 2), followed by the first production standard Corvette 100 on November 9, 1973 (F-WUQN c/n 3) and the second on January 12, 1974 (F-WUQP c/n 4). The all-metal wings were of conventional two-spar fail-safe structure of aluminum alloy. The aluminum alloy ailerons were manually-operated and the double-slotted, long-travel, trailing edge flaps were electrically-operated. The SN 601 was powered by two 2,500 lb (1,135 kg) JT15D-4s and had a standard seating arrangement for six to fourteen passengers in single seats on either side of a center aisle.

Certification of the aircraft was long delayed by a protracted strike at Pratt & Whitney Aircraft of Canada, and the Corvette was finally certificated by the French authorities on May 28, 1974, subsequently the 'W' character in the registration of all SN 601s built was altered to a 'B'. Most initial customer interest came not from America but from domestic airlines in France. The first customer delivery was made in September 1974 to Air Alpes, who operated the Corvette out of Paris and in Air France colors on the Lyons-Brussels route. In airline service the Corvette had a twelve-seat interior and could be equipped with wing tip tanks for extended range.

A planned eighteen-seat version to be called Corvette 200 and the three-engine Corvette 300 proceeded no further than the design stage, and in service the standard Corvette proved too small for its intended role as a commuter airliner. Forty SN 601s had been built when Aérospatiale terminated the program in 1978.

The pictured aircraft was built in 1975 and had several owners, the last was Airbus France of Toulouse, to which it was registered on February 22, 2002. The registration was cancelled on December 8, 2009."