The Vanneau trainer shows its kinship to the MS.406 fighter. The Aéronavale got 70 carrier-capable Vanneau IV aircraft. Bottom right is the MS.701 Pétrel F-WFDE with ambulance markings. F-WFDK is the Sud-Ouest M2 experimental jet, fitted here with a flush cockpit canopy. Top of the picture, left to right: SO.6020 Espadon No 02, SO.7060 Deauville, SO.95 Corse II F-BBIG, Fokker S.11, Fokker S.12. Photo by: Dmitri Kessel / Life

Designed in Vichy France, the MS.470 prototype first flew in December 1944 and successful testing lead to an order from the French AF of a revised variant the MS.472. The MS.472 Vanneau II was the production variant and three prototypes and 230 production aircraft were built. The type remained in service with the French AF and Navy into the late 1960s. It is a great pity that no complete airframe has survived but at least this forward section is on display at this super museum

You're not alone if you've never heard of the Vanneau (lapwing), an advanced trainer of which over 500 examples were built. Based on the MS.450 fighter design it first flew after the liberation of southern France in December 1944. Serviceability problems with the MS.472 were only partly solved by the Hispano-Suiza 12Y-powered MS.475 Vanneau V, which replaced it at the Armée de l'Air flying school in Meknes, Morocco, from 1951. The Aéronavale used the carrier-capable MS.474 Vanneau IV.