Blériot-SPAD S.61

__NOTOC__ Infobox Aircraft
name=S.61


caption=
type=Fighter
manufacturer=Blériot, and CWL/PZL under licence
designer=André Herbémont
first flight=6 November 1923
introduced=
retired=
status=
primary user=Polish Air Force
more users=Romanian Air Force
produced=
number built= ca. 350, plus 30 built under licence in Poland
variants with their own articles=The Blériot-SPAD S.61 was a French fighter aircraft developed in 1923. Designed by André Herbémont, the S.61 was a conventional biplane, abandoning the swept upper wing used by Herbémont in several previous designs. The prototype S.61 was evaluated by the French Air Force alongside the S.51 as a potential new fighter, but like its stablemate, was rejected. The Polish Air Force (which had also purchased the S.51) was impressed enough to order 250, as well as purchase licences for local production. The Romanian Air Force also ordered 100 aircraft.

Apart from their military service, S.61s were used in France for racing and record-setting attempts. On 25 June 1925, Pelletier d'Oisy won the cross-country Coupe Michelin in an S.61, and another of the type won the 1927 race and was placed second in the 1929 race. An S.61 was also used by Jean Callizo in his fraudulent attempt on the world altitude record that saw him stripped of his Légion d'Honneur. A Polish S.61 placed second in the Capitaine Echard race at the Zürich aerial meeting in 1927.

About 30 were built in Poland, by the CWL ("Centralne Warszaty Lotnicze" - Central Aviation Workshops, a predecessor of PZL). All S.61 (known in Poland simply as Spad S.61) had very bad opinion in Poland - there were numerous crashes, mostly due to weak wing mounting. In 1926-1931 26 pilots were killed on S.61 [Wojciech Sankowski, "Intrygujące Spady" in: "Lotnictwo z szachownicą" nr 6] .

Variants

* S.61/1 - prototype for French evaluation
* S.61/2 - production version for Poland and Romania
** S.61-"bis" - converted S.61/2
* S.61/3 - single machine with reduced wingspan
* S.61/4 - single machine with Lorraine-Dietrich 12Ee engine
* S.61/5 - three machines with Hispano-Suiza 12Gb engine
* S.61/6 - racer prototype converted from S.61-"bis"
** S.61/6a - single racer with Lorraine W-engine
** S.61/6b - S.61/6a converted with extra fuel tankage for 1924 Coupe Michelin race
** S.61/6c - single machine built to contest world airspeed record; destroyed in the attempt
** S.61/6d - single machine built for unsuccessful attempt on world airspeed record
* S.61/7 - machine with Rateau supercharger for world altitude record attempt
* S.61/8 - single S.61/5 refitted with Hispano-Suiza 12Hb engine
* S.61/9 - single S.61/6d modified for 1929 Coupe Michelin race
* S.61 SES - this was the final version of the Bleriot S.61, it was fitted with redesigned wings. The S.61 SES never went into production.

Operators

;POL
*Polish Air Force
** 2nd Fighter Regiment
** 3rd Fighter Regiment
** 4th Fighter Regiment
** 11th Fighter Regiment

;flag|Romania|1867
*Romanian Air Force

pecifications (S.61/2)

aerospecs
met or eng?= met

crew=one pilot
capacity=
length m=6.98
length ft=22
length in=11
span m=9.57
span ft=31
span in=5
dia m=
dia ft=
dia in=
height m=2.90
height ft=9
height in=6
wing area sqm=29.3
wing area sqft=315
rot area sqm=
rot area sqft=
aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=1,055
empty weight lb=2,326
gross weight kg=1,565
gross weight lb=3,450

eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Lorraine-Dietrich 12Ew
eng1 kw= 336
eng1 hp= 450
eng1 kn=
eng1 lbf=
eng1 kn-ab=
eng1 lbf-ab=
eng2 number=
eng2 type=
eng2 kw=
eng2 hp=
eng2 kn=
eng2 lbf=
eng2 kn-ab=
eng2 lbf-ab=

max speed kmh=227
max speed mph=141
max speed mach=
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
range km=
range miles=
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=7,500
ceiling ft=24,605
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=6.9
climb rate ftmin=1,360
sink rate ms=
sink rate ftmin=

armament1=2 × fixed, forward-firing .303 Vickers machine guns
armament2=
armament3=
armament4=
armament5=
armament6=

References

*
*
* [http://www.aviafrance.com/9385.htm aviafrance.com]

ee also

aircontent

related=

similar aircraft=

sequence=
* ← S.56 - S.58 - S.60 - S.61 - S.62 - S.64 - S.66 →

lists=

see also=