Loire 70
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Loire 70 | |
|---|---|
| Type | Long-range maritime reconnaissance flying boat |
| Manufacturer | Loire |
| Maiden flight | 1933 |
| Introduced | 1937 |
| Primary user | French Navy |
| Number built | 8 |
The Loire 70 was a 1930s French long-range maritime reconnaissance flying boat produced by Loire.
Contents |
[edit] Design and development
The Loire 70 was designed to meet a 1932 French Navy requirement for a long-range flying boat for maritime reconnaissance and bombing. The prototype first flew on 28 December 1933[1]. It was an all-metal monoplane, with a heavily braced high wing, with three radial engines mounted above the wing, two as tractors and one as a pusher. The original engines (three 500 hp (373 kW) Gnome-Rhône 9Kbr radials) were not powerful enough and were replaced with 740 hp (552 kW) Gnome-Rhône 9Kfr radials. Seven production aircraft were produced.
[edit] Operational history
The seven production aircraft and the prototype were all delivered to the French Navy, serving with Escadrille E7 at Karouba in Tunisia. During the early days of the war the aircraft carried out patrols in the Mediterranean. On an Italian air raid on their base on 12 June 1940 three of the four surviving aircraft were destroyed[1]. It is not known what happened to the last aircraft.
[edit] Operator
[edit] Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: Eight
- Length: 19.5 m (63 ft 11¾ in)
- Wingspan: 30 m (98 ft 5¼ in)
- Height: 6.75 m (22 ft 1¾ in)
- Wing area: 136 m² (1,463.94 ft²)
- Empty weight: 6500 kg (14,330 lb)
- Gross weight: 11500 kg (25,353 lb)
- Powerplant: 3 × Gnome-Rhône 9Kfr radial piston, 552 kW (740 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 235 km/h (146 mph)
- Cruising speed: 165 km/h (102.5 [1] mph)
- Range: 3000 km (1,864 miles)
- Service ceiling: 4000 m (13,125 ft)
Armament
- Six 7.5mm (0.295 in) Darne machine guns
- 600 Kg (1,323) of bombs or
- four 75 kg (165 lb) anti-submarine grenades
[edit] References
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
|
||||||||||||||
