Latécoère 521
| Latécoère 521 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Flying boat |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
January 15, 1935 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Latécoère 521 was a flying boat made by the French manufacturer Latécoère and one of the first large transatlantic machines. The one-off was equipped with six piston engines and offered space for 72 passengers. It was christened "Lieutenant de Vaisseau Paris" after Lieutenant Captain Paulin Paris.
history
On January 10, 1935, the Latécoère 521 was launched for the first time. The first flight took place on January 15th by the Latécoère factory pilots Jean Gonord and Pierre Crespy. Then some changes were made to the ailerons. The flying boat was presented to the public for the first time on February 9th. The "Lieutenant de Vaisseau Paris" carried out her first long flight on June 11, 1935 with 25 passengers on board to Le Havre . On December 8 of the same year, the 521 took off on a demonstration flight from France via Dakar and Natal (Brazil) to the French Antilles . In the USA, the machine got into a hurricane in the port of Pensacola and suffered severe damage. It was brought back to France in January 1936 with the Norwegian freighter President Herreenschmid and repaired there, while the Hispano-Suiza-12Ybrs engines were replaced by more powerful HS 12Y-37s. Then she took up the transatlantic traffic for Air France , mostly with flights to New York , but also to South America , where she crossed the Atlantic twelve times.
When the Second World War broke out , the machine was stationed in Morocco and used to monitor the North Atlantic . In 1940 it came into the hands of the Vichy regime . In August 1944, lying on the Étang de Berre , it was destroyed and sunk by German troops who withdrew after the Allies landed on the Côte d'Azur . The successor model Latécoère 522 and the two copies of the model 523 did not survive the world war either.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 6th |
| Passengers | 30 to 70 |
| length | 31.60 m |
| span | 49.30 m |
| height | 9.07 m |
| Wing area | 330 m² |
| Empty mass | 20,490 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 37,930 kg |
| Cruising speed | 213 km / h |
| Top speed | 250 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 6,300 m |
| Range | 5,800 km |
| Engines | six 12-cylinder V-engines Hispano-Suiza 12Ybrs with 630 kW (857 hp) each |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gérard Bousquet: Nonstop across the Atlantic - giant flying boat Latécoère 521 "Lieutenant-de-Vaisseau-Paris". In: Aviation Classics. 1/2012, p 16.