Aérospatiale SN 601 Corvette

The Aérospatiale SN 601 Corvette is a French twin-turbofan business jet of the early 1970s, developed by Sud Aviation and Nord Aviation and built by Aérospatiale after the two merged in 1970. It began as the SN 600 Diplomate, whose prototype first flew on 16 July 1970 with Pratt and Whitney Canada JT15D engines and was lost in March 1971. The longer SN 601 prototypes followed, the first flying on 20 December 1972. Sales were disappointing against the Cessna Citation and Dassault Falcon 20, and Aérospatiale ended production in 1976 after only 40 Corvettes including prototypes. Regional airlines, Airbus Industrie and VIP operators used them.