F-BAVD Sud-Est
S.E.2010 Armagnac
(c/n 3)
F-BAVD
was the first production Armagnac and went into service with Transporte
Aeriens
Intercontinentaux (TAI) on 8 December
1952. The carrier soon found out why Air France
had rejected them. They were
uneconomical to operate and far too expensive to run and make
a profit from on commercial
routes. The aircraft did, however, perform excellent
service with
SAGETA in
support of the Indo-China conflict and proved to be very
reliable. Being seconded
to the French military for this role,
operating expenses were immaterial. One Armagnac was later
used as a turbo-prop test bed with the
Sud-Ouest under the designation S.O.2060.