Caudron C.690

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.

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.

Variants

 * C.690: Single-seat fighter trainer aircraft. Four aircraft built.
 * C.690M: Slightly refined version for the Armee de l'Air. Only 15 aircraft were built.

Operators

 * Armee de l'Air
 * Imperial Japanese Air Force - One aircraft only (KXC1).
 * soviet Air Force - One aircraft only.
 * Imperial Japanese Air Force - One aircraft only (KXC1).
 * soviet Air Force - One aircraft only.
 * soviet Air Force - One aircraft only.