Although the SNCASE Armagnac did not have a sterling career, its passenger compartment design gave it a much roomier feel and greater capacity and foreshadowed the future wide-body jet airliners.

[1][2] After delays to the planning because of wartime conditions, work proceeded quickly at Toulouse, Marseilles and Paris, where various components were being built and tested.

The Armagnac was designed from the outset in a Cook-Craigie production line prior to the first prototype which flew on 2 April 1949 with Sud-Est Chief Pilot Pierre Nadot at the controls but was lost on 30 January 1950 while still undergoing tests.

The capacious pressurized cabin (with a near-circular fuselage section with 4.7 m/ 15 ft width and height) was intended for a three tier sleeping compartment configuration which ultimately was not fitted to any of the S.E.2010 versions.

After evaluation of the prototype by Air France, the airline declined delivery in 1952 when the first production aircraft was ready, citing inadequate performance.

Most Armagnacs were broken up in 1955 although two were used to transport the French contingent to the 1956 Olympic Games held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Jack Russell, a retired Australian Air Traffic Controller fondly recalled the Armagnac which was the most distinctive of the various aircraft types to visit Australia for the Games.

His description: "...an 80-ton aircraft which resembled two shipping containers welded together lengthways with a wing and two under-powered engines protruding on each side.

On 30 June 1950, F-WAVA, the prototype was lost after it crashed and caught fire on takeoff after a wing leading edge panel separated.