Sud-Ouest SO.90 Cassiopée: Not by the book.

The Cassiopée was a twin-engined mail, eight-passenger/transport aircraft designed and built in France after the armistice. Nothing unusual or special in this conventional design powered by a pair of 325hp Bearn 6D-07 engines. Well, nothing apart of its first flight on 16 August 1943. That day, despite the control of the occupying forces and lacking any authorization, aeronautical engineer Marcel Hurel flew the prototype accompanied by eight people (among them his three sons) from Cannes to Allied-held Algeria and freedom.

Just three prototypes were produced of the SO.90, but the design later evolved into the barely-successful Corse family of aircraft. All of them were quite pretty anyway, that’s for sure.