SNCAC NC.420

The SNCAC NC-420 was a French observation flying boat built by SNCAC in the 1940s.

Development and design[]

The aircraft was developed under a program initiated by the French Navy in March 1937 to replace the aging Loire 130 floatplane. Had it entered service, the fast battleship Gascogne was to have carried three of the aircraft. The program requested an aircraft that had an endurance of six hours and be able to carry a bomb load. The endurance requirement was later reduced to five hours to save weight.^[1]

The NC.420 was a twin-engine aircraft, an uncommon arrangement for ship-borne reconnaissance aircraft where a premium was placed on compactness. It could nevertheless be reduced to a width of 4.75 m (15.6 ft) with the wings folded, which made it comparable in size (and weight) to the Loire 130 it was slated to have replaced.^[2]

Work on the prototype was nearing completion in June 1940, but the German victory in the Battle of France ended many French military programs, including that for the NC.420. The German Armistice Commission approved the construction of up to fifteen aircraft to replace Loire 130s that were damaged or destroyed through normal operation, but work thereafter proceeded slowly and the prototype was only completed in mid-1943. Italian occupation forces thereafter disabled the aircraft's controls so it could not be flown to join Free French Forces in North Africa.^[2]

Specifications (NC.420)[]

Data from ^[3]

General characteristics

• Crew: 3
• Length: 11.2 m (36 ft 9 in)
• Wingspan: 15.9 m (52 ft 2 in)
• Height: 3.81 m (12 ft 6 in)
• Wing area: 34 m² (370 sq ft)
• Gross weight: 2,895 kg (6,382 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × 6-cylinder inverted air-cooled in-line piston engines, 290 kW (390 hp) each
• Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 300 km/h (190 mph, 160 kn)

Footnotes[]

References[]

• Bousquet, Gérard (2013). French Flying Boats of WW II. Sandomierz, Poland: Stratus. ISBN 978-83-63678-06-7.
• Jordan, John & Dumas, Robert (2009). French Battleships 1922–1956. Barnsley: Seaforth Punblishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-034-5.