This volume traces the history of the NC 700, 701 and 702 "Martinet" aircraft under French roundels, as well as that of the Siebel 204 D aircraft built in France from which they derived. Although more than 350 aircraft of this type served in the French air forces until the mid-1960s, the "Martinet" are often overlooked in accounts devoted to operational deployments or the day-to-day missions of their units.
Perhaps this aircraft has been forgotten on account of its origins. Indeed, the construction of the "Martinet" stemmed from the heavy constraints weighing on the French aeronautical industry in the aftermath of the Second World War: the most effective solution for equipping the forces with an indispensable liaison and utility aircraft was to continue — under a different name and with a number of modifications already studied during the occupation — the production of the Siebel 204 D. This had been imposed on France as early as 1941 by the German occupier to equip its own forces, and at the Liberation the industrial infrastructure, though degraded, was still available.
The "Martinet" thus forms part of the lineage of the German aircraft Kl 104, Fh 104 and then Si 204, whose Si 204 D version entered service with the Luftwaffe in 1940 for the training of fighter and bomber crews. In Bourges, during the occupation, the Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre (SNCAC) produced 168 Siebel 204 aircraft for the German army. At the Liberation, production continued under the designation NC 700 then NC 701, these variants differing in their propellers and Frenchified engines. A version dedicated to carrying 8 to 10 passengers was also built under the designation NC 702, recognisable by its non-glazed nose.
Under the name "Martinet", the NC 700, 701 and 702 joined the units of the Armée de l'Air and those of the Aéronautique Navale; a number of Siebel 204 aircraft captured from the German army were also assigned to them. For photographic reconnaissance and support missions, armed NC 701s were deployed in Indochina and then in North Africa. Other "Martinet" aircraft carried out numerous casualty evacuations and passenger transport missions. The training of pilots in twin-engine flying and the instruction of radio navigators were among the important roles performed by the "Martinet". Day to day, it was also the frequent miscellaneous transport missions that made them popular throughout the Armée de l'Air, where numerous air bases and units were equipped with them.
Of the 371 "Martinet" built in France, more than sixty were also operated by government agencies — such as the Centre d'Essai en Vol and the Institut Géographique National — as well as by civilian airlines including Air France and a number of foreign carriers.
Unjustly forgotten, the "Martinet" may also have suffered from its designation: even within the armed forces, the many NC 701 and NC 702 aircraft were frequently and improperly referred to as "Siebel". Yet they served with distinction under our roundels, as the accounts of the crews who flew them — gathered together in this volume — attest. It was therefore natural to retrace, with as much precision as possible, the history of these 371 "Martinet" aircraft, both military and civilian.
All of this brought together in 448 pages, with more than 600 photographs, 80 colour profiles, as well as cutaway drawings, maps and numerous unit insignia.
