Potez 39

infobox Aircraft
name =Potez 39
type =Observation
manufacturer =Potez


caption =
designer =
first flight = January 1930
introduced = 1934
retired = 1940
status =
primary user =French Air Force
more users = Peruvian Air Force
produced =
number built = 112 plus prototypes
unit cost =
variants with their own articles =The Potez 39 was a French two-seat single-engined parasol wing monoplane reconnaissance and observation aircraft of the 1930s.

Development

The Potez 39 was designed to a 1928 requirement for an aircraft to replace the Potez 25 and Breguet 19 machines then in service with the French Air Force. The aircraft was of all-metal construction, a parasol monoplane powered by a Hispano-Suiza 12H engine of 580 bhp. The prototype flew in January 1930 and was selected for production, along with the Breguet 27. Compared to the Potez 25, of which over 2000 were ordered, production of the Potez 39 series was on a small scale, 100 Potez 390 aircraft being built for France and 12 Potez 391 variants, powered by a Lorraine-Dietrich 12H engine of 700 bhp, for the Peruvian Air Force. A number of prototype and development aircraft, including a floatplane, were tested but no further orders were received.

ervice

First production aircraft were delivered in 1934 and the Potez 39 began to be replaced by ANF Les Mureaux 117, Amiot 143 and Potez 540 aircraft began in 1936. At the outbreak of the Second World War the Potez 39 remained in service with seven observation squadrons of the French Air Force, but these, along with the Breguet 27-equipped units, were withdrawn from the front in October 1939. The Potez 39 continued to serve in training units until the armistice of June 1940, at which time 41 remained in Metropolitan France. These aircraft were scrapped soon afterwards.

pecifications

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

ref=Breffort & Jouineau, "L'Aviation française de 1939 à 1942", Tome 2.
crew=2
capacity=
length main=10.00 m
length alt=
span main=16.00 m
span alt=
height main=3.40 m
height alt=
area main=35 m²
area alt=
airfoil=
empty weight main=1492 kg
empty weight alt=
loaded weight main=2250 kg
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=
engine (prop)=Hispano-Suiza 12H
type of prop=12-cylinder liquid-cooled V12 engine
number of props=1
power main=580 hp
power alt=
power original=
max speed main=240 km/hr
max speed alt=
max speed more=at 3500 m
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main=800 km
range alt=
ceiling main=7000 m
ceiling alt=
climb rate main=9 min 0 sec to 3500 m
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
guns=
**1 x 7.7 mm machine-gun firing forward, fixed
**2 x 7.7 mm machine-guns in observer's position, flexible
bombs=up to 120 kg
avionics=

References

Bibliography

* Breffort, Dominique & André Jouineau, "L'Aviation française de 1939 á 1942. Tome 2." Paris: Histoire et Collections, 2005. ISBN 2-915239-48-7