Potez 452

infobox Aircraft
name = Potez 452
type = Naval Reconnaissance Aircraft
logo =
manufacturer = Potez


caption =
designer =
first flight = 1935
introduction = 1936
retired = 1944
status = Retired
primary user = French Navy (Battleship Lorraine)
more users =
produced =
number built = 16
unit cost =
developed from =
variants with their own articles =

The Potez 452 was a French seaplane.

Operational History

This aircraft was designed and built by the French aircraft company Potez in response to a French Navy specification for a shipboard reconnaissance machine for use on its battleships and cruisers. The design requirements included the ability for launch by a catapult or from the sea. In addition, the wings were required to fold to simplify storage aboard ship. It first flew in 1935, and after satisfactory flight trials, it began equipping French ships a year later. Only sixteen Potez 452s were built. They remained active as reconnaissance platforms during the early months of World War II. During these early months, there was no significant naval action in the Mediterranean. The warships upon which the Potez 452s were serving saw no real combat against German forces. After the French capitulation to Germany in June 1940, these aircraft continued to serve on their ships and ironically were briefly engaged against their former ally Great Britain. Other Potez 452s were deployed to French colonies in French Indochina, which included reconnaissance duty in a short conflict between these Vichy French controlled colonies and Thailand, a little remembered side event of World War II. These machines remained in service until 1944, by that time all had been retired or destroyed.

Operators

;FRA
*French Navy

pecifications (Potez 452)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=
crew=2
capacity=
payload main=
payload alt=
length main= 10.54 m
length alt=34 feet 7 inches
span main=12.95 m
span alt=42 feet 6 inches
height main=3.48 m
height alt=11 feet 5 inches
area main=
area alt=
airfoil=
empty weight main= 1,102 kg
empty weight alt= 2,429 pounds
loaded weight main= 1,620 kg
loaded weight alt= 3,571 pounds, catapult
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=
engine (prop)=Hispano-Suiza 9 QD, 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine
type of prop=
number of props=1
power main= 260 kW
power alt=350 hp
power original=
propeller or rotor?=
propellers=
number of propellers per engine=
propeller diameter main=
propeller diameter alt=
max speed main= 214 km/h
max speed alt= 133 mph
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
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never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main= 917 km
range alt=570 miles
ceiling main= 4,480 m
ceiling alt= 14,700 feet
climb rate main=
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loading main=
loading alt=
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more performance=
guns= One 7.5 mm (0.295 inch) machine gun mounted in flexible position in rear cockpit
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