Potez 75
The Potez 75 was a French light ground attack pusher configuration monoplane of the 1950s.
| Potez 75 | |
|---|---|
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| The Potez 75 prototype exhibited at the Paris Air Salon in May 1957. It shows the later enclosed pilot's position and fully glazed cockpit. | |
| Role | Light ground attack aircraft |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Potez |
| First flight | 10 June 1953 |
| Status | no longer extant |
| Number built | 1 |
Design and development
The Potez 75 was developed by the reformed Potez Company which had originally been formed by Henry Potez in 1919. The type was designed to meet the requirement for a launching platform for wire-guided anti-tank missiles Nord SS.10. It was of all-metal construction, with a pusher engine. The twin fins and tailplane were carried on two booms extending from the lower rear fuselage and it was fitted with a fixed tricycle undercarriage. The missile operator sat in the nose, behind which was a small upper cabin accommodating the pilot.[1] Initially the operator's cabin had windows and the pilot's position was open, but later modifications enclosed the latter and provided the operator with better visibility by full glazing.
Operational history
The aircraft first flew on 10 June 1953 with experimental registration F-ZWSA, but later as F-WGVK and finally as the military F-MAFY. It had four 7.5 mm guns in the lower nose and could carry eight under-wing rockets.[2] It was tested by the French military and found unsatisfactory as a missile platform. It was modified to light ground attack configuration and tested in the Algerian War, excelling in this role and orders were placed for 15 pre-production and 100 production machines in 1956.[3] This order was cancelled the following year as part of defence budget cuts. Exhibited at the May 1957 Paris Air Show, the prototype was subsequently used as a liaison aircraft and scrapped after crash landing on 16 September 1958.
Specifications
Data from Aircraft of the World[1] & Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1955-56[4]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 9.16 m (30 ft 1 in)
- Wingspan: 13.1 m (43 ft 0 in)
- Height: 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in)
- Empty weight: 1,800 kg (3,968 lb)
- Gross weight: 2,400 kg (5,291 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Potez 8D.32 inverted V-8 air-cooled piston engine, 360 kW (480 hp) at take-off
- Propellers: 3-bladed pusher variable-pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 275 km/h (171 mph, 148 kn)
- Cruise speed: 225 km/h (140 mph, 121 kn)
- Range: 700 km (430 mi, 380 nmi)
- Rate of climb: 8 m/s (1,600 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 105 kg/m2 (22 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.149 kW/kg ( 0.0917 lb/hp)
Armament
- Guns: 4x 7.5 mm (0.295 in) machine-guns in the nose
- Rockets: 8x under-wing rockets
References
- Notes
- ^ a b Green, William (1956). The Aircraft of the World. Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd. p. 156.
- ^ aviafrance
- ^ Bridgman, Leonard (1956). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1956-57. London: Jane's all the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd.
- ^ Bridgman, Leonard (1955). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1955-56. London: Jane's all the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd.
- Bibliography
- Green, William (1956). The Aircraft of the World. Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd.
- Bridgman, Leonard (1956). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1956-57. London: Jane's all the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd.
- Bridgman, Leonard (1955). Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1955-56. London: Jane's all the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd.
External links
- Technical and historical information at aviafrance.com
- Potez 75, FliegerWeb.com more technical details and images (German translated to English)