Potez 75
| Potez 75 | |
|---|---|
| |
| The Potez 75 prototype exhibited at the Paris Air Salon in May 1957. It shows the later enclosed pilot's position and fully glazed cockpit. | |
| Role | Light ground attack aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Potez |
| First flight | 10 June 1953 |
| Status | Scrapped |
| Number built | 1 |
The Potez 75 was a low-cost, simple, ground-support, observation and launch aircraft for anti-tank missiles, designed and built in the early 1950s, for use in colonial conflicts. One hundred and fifteen were ordered in 1956, but cancelled in 1957.
Design and development
[edit]The Potez 75 was developed by the reformed Potez Company which had originally been founded by Henry Potez in 1919. The type was designed to meet the requirement for a launching platform for Nord SS.10 wire-guided anti-tank missiles. It was of all-metal construction, with a pusher engine. The twin fins and tailplane were carried on two booms extending from the lower rear fuselage and it was fitted with a fixed tricycle undercarriage. The missile operator sat in the nose, behind which was a small upper cabin accommodating the pilot.[1] Initially the operator's cabin had windows and the pilot's position was open, but later modifications enclosed the latter and provided the operator with better visibility by full glazing.
Operational history
[edit]The aircraft first flew on 10 June 1953 with experimental registration F-ZWSA, but later as F-WGVK and finally as the military F-MAFY. It had four 7.5 mm guns in the lower nose and could carry eight under-wing rockets.[2] It was tested by the French military and found unsatisfactory as a missile platform. It was modified to light ground attack configuration and tested in the Algerian War, excelling in this role and orders were placed for 15 pre-production and 100 production machines in 1956.[3] This order was cancelled the following year as part of defence budget cuts. Exhibited at the May 1957 Paris Air Show, the prototype was subsequently used as a liaison aircraft and scrapped after crash landing on 16 September 1958.
Specifications
[edit]Data from Aircraft of the World,[1] Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1955-56,[4] Fliegerweb: Potez 75[5]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 9.16 m (30 ft 1 in)
- Wingspan: 13.1 m (43 ft 0 in)
- Height: 2.75 m (9 ft 0 in)
- Wing area: 28.7 m2 (309 sq ft)
- Aspect ratio: 5.98
- Empty weight: 1,780 kg (3,924 lb)
- Gross weight: 2,515 kg (5,545 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 2,865 kg (6,316 lb)
- Fuel capacity: 1,200 L (320 US gal; 260 imp gal)
- Powerplant: 1 × Potez 8D.32 inverted V-8 air-cooled piston engine, 480 kW (640 hp) at take-off
- 183 kW (245 hp) at 3,500 m (11,500 ft)
- Propellers: 3-bladed variable-pitch pusher propeller, 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) diameter
Performance
- Maximum speed: 275 km/h (171 mph, 148 kn) at sea level
- 294 km/h (183 mph; 159 kn) at 3,000 m (9,800 ft)
- Cruise speed: 234 km/h (145 mph, 126 kn) at 2,000 m (6,600 ft)
- Range: 660 km (410 mi, 360 nmi)
- Ferry range: 780 km (480 mi, 420 nmi)
- Endurance: 3 hours 20 minutes
- Service ceiling: 8,600 m (28,200 ft)
- Rate of climb: 5.8 m/s (1,140 ft/min)
- Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 3 minutes
- 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 10 minutes
- Wing loading: 99.8 kg/m2 (20.4 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.15 kW/kg (0.091 hp/lb)
- Take-off run: 290 m (950 ft)
- Landing run: 320 m (1,050 ft)
Armament
- Guns:
- 1 × 12.7 mm (0.500 in) DEFA machine gun with 480 rounds
- 4 × 7.5 mm (0.295 in) fixed machine-guns in the nose with 1000 rpg
- Rockets: 8 × under-wing rockets
- Missiles: 8 × Nord SS.10 wire-guided anti-tank missiles
References
[edit]- ^ a b Green, William (1956). The Aircraft of the World. Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. p. 156.
- ^ Parmentier, Bruno (4 May 2002). "Potez 75". Aviafrance (in French). Paris. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ Bridgman, Leonard (1956). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1956-57. London: Jane's All the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd.
- ^ Bridgman, Leonard (1955). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1955-56. London: Jane's all the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd.
- ^ "Potez 75". fliegerweb.com (in German). Retrieved 14 March 2020.
Further reading
[edit]
- Carbonel, Jean-Christophe (2017). French Secret Projects 2. Vol. French Secret Projects 2: Bombers, Patrol And Assault Aircraft. Manchester, UK: Crecy Publishing. ISBN 978-1-91080-906-8.
- Cuny, Jean (1989). Les avions de combat français, 2: Chasse lourde, bombardement, assaut, exploration [French Combat Aircraft 2: Heavy Fighters, Bombers, Attack, Reconnaissance]. Docavia (in French). Vol. 30. Ed. Larivière. OCLC 36836833.
- Leziaud, Louis (November 1987). "L'unique Potez 75 (1)" [The Unique Potez 75, Part 1]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (216): 20–24. ISSN 0757-4169.
- Leziaud, Louis (December 1987). "L'unique Potez 75 (2)" [The Unique Potez 75, Part 2]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (217): 36–40. ISSN 0757-4169.