Bugatti unveiled the Chiron Sport ‘Les Légendes du Ciel’ at the end of last year, limited to just 20 units. The limited edition Bugatti features attributes to aircraft, such as the Gris Serpent matte grey paintwork and the blue, white, and red Tricolor, which adorns the front of the side skirts made from black visible carbon fiber.
The bars of the radiator grille are made from laser-cut, deep-drawn aluminum and are reminiscent of planes in a flyby formation. A brushed aluminum door sill panel with the lettering ‘Les Légendes du Ciel’ identifies the edition.
It has a leather interior in the Gaucho color which is reminiscent of the natural leather used in airplanes in the past. This natural material is contrasted with aluminum trims and an aluminum inlay featuring the ‘Les Légendes du Ciel’ logo, which also features on the headrests. On the door panels, there is a sketch of a racing scene between the Nieuport 17 airplane and a Bugatti Type 13 that represents the two historical links commemorated by the limited edition hyper sports car.
The appropriate power is provided by the 8.0-liter W16 engine with 1,500 PS and torque of 1,600 newton meters. A seven-gear dual-clutch transmission transfers the power to all four tires. The edition, limited to 20 units, retails at a net price of 2.88 million euros.
Behind the steering wheel sits a man of speed and precision in the cockpit: Bugatti’s pilote official, Pierre-Henri Raphanel. He took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 14 times between 1986 and 2000, finishing second twice and once winning the GT category, won the French Formula 3 championship in 1985, and, four years later, qualified for the Formula 1 grand prix in Monaco. The race car driver has been assisting Bugatti with his expertise for more than 10 years and in 2010, he broke the speed record for road-legal super sports cars for Bugatti in a Veyron 16.4 Super Sport (431,072 km/h / 268 mph).
Alongside the Chiron Sport is the Rafale Marine. After France left the Eurofighter program, the French company Dassault developed its own aircraft; one which was uncompromisingly tailored to the requirements of the French army. This includes the ability to be able to take off over especially short distances. This is possible thanks to its virtually tailless delta wing construction in a mid-wing design with canard wings. It is a light, versatile, land- and carrier-based multirole aircraft.
The twin-engine jet has been in the service of the French armed forces since 2000. It has a dry weight of 10.3 tons, a maximum weight of 24.5 tons and is used for a variety of tasks. With its length of 15.5 meters and a wingspan of 10.86 meters, the Rafale Marine – in single-seater configuration for the Navy – can achieve a top speed of more than 1.6 Mach or around 1,975 km/h. But what really sets it apart is its maneuverability. It can take off from and land on aircraft carriers like the Charles de Gaulle. Around 200 Rafale aircraft have been produced to date, 46 of which are Rafale Marine jets.
Like Bugatti, French naval aviators can look back on a long history. The first seaplanes were developed in around 1910 and nine years later the French pilot, Paul Teste, developed a wheeled plane that could take off from ships. It took off from the deck of the aviso Bapaume for the first time in 1919, and the first landing on a converted ship was achieved a year later. With the newly developed appontage landing technique, ropes and tailhooks bring the aircraft to a standstill within a distance of 30 meters. This technique is still used to catch jets on aircraft carriers to this day, such as on the Charles de Gaulle, the flagship in the French Navy.
The Landivisiau Naval Air Base (BAN Landivisiau) in Brittany serves the French naval aviators as a base for their deployments on the aircraft carrier and it is from here that they practice takeoffs and landings. Aircraft have been taking off from Landivisiau since 1965; initially two squadrons of both the Dassault Etendard and the Vought F-8 Crusader, and later the Super Etendard. The Dassault Rafale Marine has been stationed in Landivisiau since 2000 and there are currently 41 aircraft there divided into three flotilla: 11F (established in 1920), 12F (1948), and 17F (1958).
These two French icons have a lot in common. Ettore Bugatti founded his company in Molsheim, France, in 1909 and the French army introduced naval aviators in the following year. The Rafale was first deployed by the army in 2001, the year in which Bugatti unveiled the Veyron 16.4.
The two extremes of their respective field share common ground in terms of technology and materials, too. “The Chiron Sport and the Rafale Marine have more in common than they don’t. They are both absolutely high-tech products, are manufactured with passion and precision, are beautiful and incredibly powerful and fast, can be maneuvered and can brake precisely like no other,” says Etienne.
The brakes of the Rafale were developed by Messier-Bugatti, a company that can be traced to Bugatti Automobiles in Molsheim. The brake block with a diameter of 33.8 centimeters weighs around 27 kilograms. Ten pistons apply pressure of 175 bar to the brake disks. An anti-skid system developed especially for aircraft keeps the jet on track even during tricky landings. A special heat shield on the brake protects the 36-kilogram alloy wheels and the 790×275-15 Michelin tires from overheating.
The tires of the Chiron Sport are a little smaller, but no less impressive, with 285/30 R20 ZR tires at the front, 355/25 R21 ZR at the back. In the Chiron Sport, brake disks with a diameter of 420 millimeters at the front and 400 millimeters at the back ensure safe braking. Eight brake pistons at the front and six pistons per brake caliper at the back bite into the disks.
To compensate for the extreme heat during landings, the jet’s tires are filled with nitrogen as they have to withstand temperatures ranging from –30 to +199 degrees. The pressure of 16 bar is sufficient for land-based landings, but this is increased to 27 bar for landings on aircraft carriers. In the Chiron Sport, the tire pressure is increased from 2.8 to 3.0 bar for the top-speed mode.
Around 70 percent of the aircraft’s skin consists of the composite materials carbon and Kevlar, which means the weight is reduced by approximately 30 per cent compared with aluminum. Aluminum does feature in the aircraft structure, together with titanium.
Bugatti has a long tradition of lightweight construction. Many of the materials used in aircraft construction also feature in the latest hyper sports cars. For example, high-strength stainless steels such as aircraft stainless steel are used for the Chiron’s wishbones. High-strength threaded bolts made from titanium are used to connect the Chiron’s driver’s cab to the drive unit. The brake caliper pistons are made from this material, too. The exhaust system with a volume of 68 liters is likewise made from titanium, while the exhaust cover is made with high-temperature-resistant nickel-based alloys (Inconel). Bugatti places its trust in high-strength aluminum for the brake calipers as well as for the entire front end with its clever crash test structure and rear wing mechanism. Extreme stability coupled with low weight is achieved thanks to the center and rear structural components and the entire skin made from carbon. Even the windscreen wiper arms are made from this light material.
In addition to the materials it uses, Bugatti embraces aviation with its adaptive chassis, too. The Chiron is the first automobile to feature an entirely hydraulically adaptive chassis, just like the landing gear of a jet. The only difference is that the landing gear of the Rafale Marine is withdrawn hydraulically, while the Bugatti’s chassis adapts on the basis of various driving programs. In the Top Speed program, for example, the Chiron Sport drops 3.5 centimeters at the front and 3.1 centimeters at the rear in comparison to the EB program.
Bugatti takes inspiration from aviation with the development of its hyper sports car’s aerodynamics, too. Whereas an aircraft uses the shape of its wings to generate lift, a different wing on the automobile generates downthrust for good roadholding, using the same principle to achieve the opposite effect. For the Chiron Sport, to be able to brake safely even at its top speed of 420 km/h, just like on a jet, the rear wing is raised from its angle of three degrees to 49 degrees in the Top Speed mode to serves as a brake flap. Bugatti controls this active aerodynamics at the rear and front with a total of 18 hydraulic cylinders.
There are even similarities in the Chiron Sport and the Rafale with regard to the human-machine interface and its operation. During a flight, the pilot controls the majority of the control elements via a joystick. This ‘hands on handle’ principle is made possible by 24 buttons on the throttle and its extension as well as 13 on the clutch. In the Chiron Sport, the majority of the functions are controlled via the multifunction steering wheel, meaning there is no need for the driver to take their hands off the steering wheel. The Rafale Marine is equipped with five screens for visualization, while the Chiron has two in the cockpit and four on the air conditioning controls.
Returning to the scenario at hand: the Bugatti Chiron Sport takes the lead soon after setting off. The hyper sports car accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.4 seconds and to 200 km/h in 6.1 seconds. It takes 13.1 seconds to hit a speed of 300 km/h and 32.6 seconds to accelerate to 400 km/h, a speed at which pilot, Etienne, and the Rafale Marine look to match to take off.
The aircraft hits 165 km/h after 150 meters and 210 km/h after 250 meters, and takes off after 450 meters at around 260 km/h. “I pulled away from the Rafale over the first few hundred meters, but after a few hundred meters more it was around 20 meters above and alongside me in the air. An incredible and fantastic sight,” says Pierre-Henri Raphanel later. To be on the safe side, the Bugatti driver initiates his braking maneuver after approximately 1.5 kilometers and over 350 km/h – by which time the Rafale has disappeared into the horizon.
There are similarities between the two systems when looking at the exhilarating acceleration. The feeling in the Rafale Marine is the same as in the Chiron Sport. It’s a feeling of seemingly never-ending thrust, of an abundance of power. “The Chiron Sport has incredible acceleration force which comes very close to that of the Rafale. What you feel in the Bugatti is what you feel in the jet, including when braking,” explains pilot Etienne. Like in “Top Gun”, the Rafale Marine briefly flies over the runway and alongside the Chiron Sport – an amazing image. “But the reality with the Rafale Marine and the Chiron Sport is even better,” says Etienne.
The Chiron Sport likewise delivers top performance when accelerating: it goes from 50 to 150 km/h in 3.2 seconds, from 80 to 120 km/h in just 1.8 seconds, and from 100 to 200 km/h in 4.3 seconds.
To be able to decelerate stably at high speeds, both machines use extra-special brakes. It takes the Bugatti Chiron Sport 491 meters to come to a standstill from 400 km/h and 247 meters from a speed of 300 km/h. It travels 114 meters when decelerating from 200 to 0 km/h and 31.4 meters to get down from 100 to 0 km/h. Due to the shortness of the runway and the safety regulations, the Chiron Sport brakes at just 210 km/h and the Rafale Marine at 250 km/h.
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