Following the end of the Second World War, the French aircraft manufacturer SNCASE proposed a very large, long-range flying boat, the SE-1200, which was intended to carry 125 passengers across the Atlantic Ocean. The SE-1200, with a wingspan of 611NaN1 and a maximum takeoff weight of 140000kg (310,000lb) and powered by eight 3000– Arsenal 24H engines in four tandem pairs (the Arsenal 24H was a 24-cylinder H-24 engine based on components of the Junkers Jumo 213), would have been one of the largest aircraft in the world if completed.
To enable aerodynamic tests of the design a flying scale model approximately one-third size was built. The resultant SE-1210 was powered by four 2400NaN0 Renault 6Q in-line piston engines. The SE-1210, registered F-WEPI, first flew on 9 June 1948 on the Étang de Berre near SNCASE's factory at Marignane, Marseille. After modification it was passed to the Centre d'essais en vol (CEV) for further testing which continued from December 1948 to April 1949. Following the cancellation of the SE-1200 project, testing of the SE-1210 was abandoned, with it being flown for the last time in March 1951, with the flying boat being scrapped in 1952.