Sud-Ouest Bretagne
S.O.30 Bretagne | |
---|---|
SO.30P of the Aeronavale equipped with under-wing Palas auxiliary jets at Blackbushe Airport in 1955 | |
Role | Airliner and military transport |
Manufacturer | Sud-Ouest |
First flight | 26 February 1945 |
Primary users | Air France French Air Force |
Number built | 45 |
The Sud-Ouest S.O.30 Bretagne was a 1940s French airliner built by Sud-Ouest.
Design and development[]
The Bretagne (Engl. "Brittany") was designed by a group of designers and engineers who were based at Cannes from May 1941 following the invasion of France. The design was for a medium capacity civil transport, a twin-engined mid-wing cantilever all-metal monoplane. The prototype (designated the S.O.30N) first flew on 26 February 1945.
Operational history[]
The initial production version was designated the S.O.30P Bretagne with two versions with different engines. The aircraft operated with a crew of five and could carry between 30 and 43 passengers. A cargo version (the S.O.30C) was produced, with a revised interior and strengthened floor and large cargo door. The aircraft was operated as an airliner, but mainly by the French military forces as a medium transport.
Some aircraft were fitted with two underwing Turbomeca Palas turbojet engines for auxiliary power. Other aircraft were used for engine-trials fitted with the SNECMA Atar 101 and licence-built Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets.
Variants[]
- S.O.30N
- Tailwheel undercarriage prototype, c/n 01 built after the 1940 armistice and stored till after the war. The second S.O.30R c/n 02 was built in 1946 and later converted to the S.O.30 Nene, jet powered airliner test-bed.
- S.O.30R Bellatrix
- Two prototypes of the nosewheel undercarriage production model.
- S.O.30C
- cargo version, one built with belly loading hatches.
- S.O.30P-1
- production version with Pratt & Whitney R-2800-B43 engines.
- S.O.30P-2
- production version with Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CA13 engines.
- S.O.30 Nene
- One aircraft converted from S.O.30R c/n 02 for use as a testbed, powered by two Rolls-Royce Nenes.
Operators[]
Military operators[]
- French Air Force[1]
- French Navy[1]
Civil operators[]
- Aigle Azur[1]
- Air France[2]
- COSARA based in French Indo-China[3]
- Iranian Airways[2]
- Air Maroc[2]
Specifications (S.O.30P-2)[]
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54,[4] French postwar transport aircraft,[5][6]
General characteristics
- Crew: 4
- Capacity: 43 passengers
- Length: 18.95 m (62 ft 2 in)
- Wingspan: 26.9 m (88 ft 3 in)
- Height: 5.9 m (19 ft 4 in)
- Wing area: 86.2 m2 (928 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 14,000 kg (30,865 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 20,250 kg (44,644 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CA18 18-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engines, 1,815 kW (2,434 hp) each for take-off with water injection
- Powerplant: 2 × Turbomeca Palas optional 1.47 kN (330 lbf) turbojet booster engines under the outer wings
- Propellers: 4-bladed constant-speed fully feathering propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed: 575 km/h (357 mph, 310 kn)
- Cruise speed: 438 km/h (272 mph, 237 kn)
- Range: 2,175 km (1,351 mi, 1,174 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 8,000 m (26,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 6 m/s (1,200 ft/min)
See also[]
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sud-Ouest Bretagne. |
- Notes
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Stroud 1966, p. 203.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d Stroud 1966, p. 202.
- ^ Stroud 1966, pp. 202–203.
- ^ Bridgman 1953, pp. 152–153.
- ^ Chillon, J.; Dubois, J-P.; Wegg, J. (1980). French postwar transport aircraft. Tonbridge: Air-Britain. pp. 26–27. ISBN 0851300782.
- ^ Parmentier, Bruno. "S.N.C.A.S.O. SO-30P 'Bretagne' série 2". Aviafrance (in French). Retrieved 2 December 2017.
- Bibliography
- Bridgeman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54. London: Jane's All The World's Aircraft Publishing Company, 1953.
- Stroud, John. European Transport Aircraft since 1910. London: Putnam, 1966.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985.
Further reading[]
- Bridgman, Leonard, ed. (1947). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1947. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. pp. 141c–142c.
- 1940s French airliners
- 1940s French military transport aircraft
- Sud-Ouest aircraft
- Mid-wing aircraft
- Aircraft first flown in 1945
- Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft