| C.690 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Fighter trainer |
| Manufacturer | Caudron |
| Designer | |
| Number built | 19 |
| History | |
| First flight | 18 February 1936 |
The Caudron C.690 was a single-seat training aircraft developed in France in the late 1930s to train fighter pilots to handle high-performance aircraft. It was a conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane that bore a strong resemblance to designer Marcel Riffard's racer designs of the same period. Caudron attempted to attract overseas sales for the aircraft, but this resulted in orders for only two machines - one from Japan, and the other from the USSR. In the meantime, the first of two prototypes was destroyed in a crash that killed René Paulhan, Caudron's chief test pilot.
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Despite this, the Armée de l'Air eventually showed interest in the type, and ordered a batch of a slightly refined design. The first of these was not delivered until April 1939, and only 15 C.690Ms were supplied before the outbreak of war.
