Latham 47

__NOTOC__ Infobox Aircraft
name=Latham 47


caption=
type=Twin-engined flying boat
manufacturer=Latham
designer=
first flight=1928
introduced=1929
retired=
status=
primary user=French Navy
more users=
produced=
number built=16
variants with their own articles=The Latham 47 was a French twin-engine flying boat designed and built by Société Latham & Cié for the French Navy. The aircraft achieved notoriety in 1928 when aircraft number 47.02 disappeared with the explorer Roald Amundsen on a rescue mission for the Italian explorer Umberto Nobile.

Design and development

Designed to meet a French Navy requirement for a long-range flying boat with a transatlantic capability. The prototype Latham 47 appeared in 1928, although it was lost in a fire after two flights. The Type 47 was a large sesquiplane powered by two Farman 12We engines mounted in tandem below the upper wing. The pilot and co-pilot sat side-by-side in an open cockpit, two further machine-gun equipped cockpits were located in the nose and amidships. Twelve production aircraft were built and delivered to the Navy.

Two further aircraft were built as the Latham 47P as civilian mail carriers with Hispano-Suiza 12Y engines. The 47Ps were used on Mediterranean routes until 1932.

Variants

;Type 47.01:First Latham 47 prototype.;Type 47.02:Second Latham 47 prototype.;Type 47:Two prototypes and twelve production military aircraft, designated R3B4 in service.;Type 47P:Civilian mail carriers, two built.

Operators

;FRA
*French Navy
**Escadrille 3E1
**Escadrille 4R1

Accidents and incidents

On the 6 June 1928 the Latham 47.02 was tasked to help search for the airship "Italia" which earlier on the 25 May 1928 had crashed on pack ice in the Arctic Ocean just north of Spitsbergen. The aircraft picked up the explorer Roald Amundsen and a colleague at Bergen. On the 18 June the aircraft left Tromsö, Norway to fly across the Barents Sea; it disappeared without a trace. Later, 31st of August the same year, the torn off port float was found off the coast of Troms, and a large gasoline tank were found on Haltenbanken in October.

pecifications (Type 47)

aerospecs
ref=cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)|year= |publisher= Orbis Publishing|location= |issn=|pages 2296-7
met or eng?= met

crew=4
capacity=
length m=
length ft=
length in=
span m=25.20
span ft=82
span in=8
swept m=
swept ft=
swept in=
rot number=
rot dia m=
rot dia ft=
rot dia in=
dia m=
dia ft=
dia in=
width m=
width ft=
width in=
height m=
height ft=
height in=
wing area sqm=
wing area sqft=
swept area sqm=
swept area sqft=
rot area sqm=
rot area sqft=
volume m3=
volume ft3=
aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=
empty weight lb=
gross weight kg=6886
gross weight lb=15,180
lift kg=
lift lb=

eng1 number=2
eng1 type=Farman 12We
eng1 kw= 373
eng1 hp= 500
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=170
max speed mph=106
max speed mach=
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
range km=900
range miles=559
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=
ceiling ft=
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=
climb rate ftmin=
sink rate ms=
sink rate ftmin=

armament1=2 x twin 7.7 mm (0.303 in) machine-guns
armament2=600kg (1323lb) bombs
armament3=
armament4=
armament5=
armament6=

ee also

aircontent
see also=
*Roald Amundsen
related=
similar aircraft=
sequence=
lists=
*List of seaplanes and flying boats

References

*
*