The Breguet 19 (Breguet XIX, Br.19 or Bre.19) was a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, also used for long-distance flights, designed by the French Breguet company and produced from 1924.
A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance.
Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of imagery intelligence, and the observation of enemy maneuvers.
The Société des Ateliers d'Aviation Louis Breguet also known as Breguet Aviation was a French aircraft manufacturer. The company was set up in 1911 by aviation pioneer Louis Charles Breguet.
Breguet XIX prototype. Photo from L'Aerophile December,1921
The Breguet 19 was designed as a successor to a highly successful World War I light bomber, the 14. Initially, it was designed to be powered by a 340kW (450hp)Bugatti U-16 engine, driving a four-blade propeller, and such a prototype was shown on the 7th Paris Air Show in November 1921.[1] A new design was flown in March 1922, featuring a conventional layout with a single 340kW (450hp) Renault 12Kb inline engine. The aircraft was built in a sesquiplane platform, with lower wings substantially smaller than the upper ones. After trials, the Breguet 19 was ordered by the French Army's Aéronautique Militaire in September 1923.
World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.
A bomber is a combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry, firing torpedoes and bullets, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles.
The Breguet 14 was a French biplane bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War. It was built in very large numbers and production continued for many years after the end of the war.
The first 11 Breguet 19 prototypes were powered by a number of different engines. A "trademark" of Breguet was the wide usage of duralumin as a construction material, instead of steel or wood. At that time, the aircraft was faster than other bombers, and even some fighter aircraft. Therefore, it met with a huge interest in the world, strengthened by its sporting successes. Mass production, for the Aéronautique Militaire and export, started in France in 1924.
Duralumin is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age-hardenable aluminium alloys. Its use as a trade name is obsolete, and today the term mainly refers to aluminium–copper alloys, designated as the 2000 series by the International Alloy Designation System (IADS), as with 2014 and 2024 alloys used in airframe fabrication.
A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat against other aircraft, as opposed to bombers and attack aircraft, whose main mission is to attack ground targets. The hallmarks of a fighter are its speed, maneuverability, and small size relative to other combat aircraft.
Design
The Breguet 19 was a biplane (sesquiplane), conventional in layout, with braced wings. The fuselage, ellipsoid in cross-section, was a frame of duralumin pipes. The front part was covered with duralumin sheets, the tail with canvas. The wings were canvas covered. It had a conventional fixed landing gear with rear skid. The crew of two, pilot and observer/bombardier, sat in tandem in open cockpits, with dual controls.
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage over a monoplane, it produces more drag than a similar unbraced or cantilever monoplane wing. Improved structural techniques, better materials and the quest for greater speed made the biplane configuration obsolete for most purposes by the late 1930s.
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, and cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, as well, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage, which in turn is used as a floating hull. The fuselage also serves to position control and stabilization surfaces in specific relationships to lifting surfaces, which is required for aircraft stability and maneuverability.
Canvas is an extremely durable plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required, as well as in such fashion objects as handbags, electronic device cases, and shoes. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame.
A wide variety of engine types were fitted, mostly water-cooled V-12 or W-12 inline engines, including the following:
The Farman 12We was a French 12-cylinder broad arrow configuration aircraft engine that was designed and built by Farman in the early 1920s. Power output was 370 kilowatts (500 hp).
The Liberty L-12 was an American 27-litre water-cooled 45° V-12 aircraft engine of 400 hp (300 kW) designed for a high power-to-weight ratio and ease of mass production. It was succeeded by the Packard 1A-2500.
A W12 engine is a twelve cylinder piston internal combustion engine in a W configuration. W12 engines have been manufactured in two distinct configurations. The original W12 configuration used three banks of four cylinders coupled to a common crankshaft, with 60° angles between the banks. These were used in several aircraft engine designs from the 1920s, notably the Napier Lion and various French engines. The more recent configuration, used in the Volkswagen Group W12, uses four rows of three cylinders merged into two 'cylinder banks', coupled to a common crankshaft.
A fixed 7.7mm (0.303in)Vickers machine gun with an interrupter gear was operated by the pilot, while the observer had twin 7.7mm (0.303in)Lewis Guns. There was also a fourth machine gun, which could be fired by the observer downwards through an opening in the floor. The Br.19CN2 night fighter variant was fitted with two pilot's machine guns.[2] The bomber variant could carry up to 472kg (1,041lb) of bombs under the fuselage, or in a vertical bomb bay (small bombs up to 50kg (110lb)). The reconnaissance variant could carry 12x 10kg (22lb) bombs. The reconnaissance variant had a camera mounting, which was optional on the bomber variant. All variants had radio.
The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The machine gun typically required a six to eight-man team to operate: one fired, one fed the ammunition, the rest helped to carry the weapon, its ammunition, and spare parts. It was in service from before the First World War until the 1960s, with air-cooled versions of it on many Allied World War I fighter aircraft.
A synchronization gear, or a gun synchronizer, sometimes rather less accurately called an interrupter, is attached to the armament of a single-engine tractor-configuration aircraft so it can fire through the arc of its spinning propeller without bullets striking the blades. The idea presupposes a fixed armament directed by aiming the aircraft in which it is fitted at the target, rather than aiming the gun independently.
The bomb bay or weapons bay on some military aircraft is a compartment to carry bombs, usually in the aircraft's fuselage, with "bomb bay doors" which open at the bottom. The bomb bay doors are opened and the bombs are dropped when over the target or at a specified launching point.
In the Greco-Italian War of World War II, 18 Breguets were on line at the outbreak of war, with 1 Observation (or Army Cooperation) Mira, under I Corp Command, based at Perigiali, near Corinth and with 2 Observation Mira under II Corps command, based at Larissa and Kozani.[3] On 4 November 1940, a RHAF (Royal Hellenic Air Force) Breguet from 2 Mira was sent looking for the attacking 3rd Julia Alpine Division, locating it in a mountain pass near Metsovo. Three more Breguets sent to bomb the Italian division were in turn attacked by three Fiat CR.42 fighters. A Breguet was shot down, one crash-landed and the third returned to base, though badly shot up.[4]
Variants
Br.19.01
Br.19.01 was the first Breguet 19 prototype which first flew in March 1922. It was later bought by the Spanish government.[2]
Breguet Bre.19 No.3, flown by French aviator Georges Pelletier d'Oisy, at RAF Hinaidi, India en route from Paris to Tokyo in 1924
Br.19.02 to Br.19.02.011
Pre-production aircraft, whose fuselage was lengthened by 600mm (24in). The Br.19.02 was sent to Yugoslavia for evaluation in 1923.[2]
Breguet Bre.19 No.3 flown by French aviator Georges Pelletier d'Oisy crashed at Shanghai on 20 May 1924, during Pelletier d'Oisy's Paris to Tokyo flight, which was completed in Breguet Bre.14A2 No.2097
Night fighter version, almost identical to the B2 reconnaissance variant with two additional forward-firing machine guns.[2]
Br.19 GR
(Grand Raid) A variant specially modified for long-distance flights, after early long-range attempts were made with the regular Br.19 A2 no.23 fitted with additional fuel tanks. The first Br.19 GR (no.64) had a fuel tank of about 2,000l (530USgal; 440impgal) and captured the world distance record in 1925.
Br.19 GR 3000 litres
In 1926, three further aircraft (no.1685 to 1687) were modified to Br.19 GR 3000 litres specifications. They had larger fuel tanks fitted in the fuselage, with a total capacity of about 2,900 to 3,000l (770 to 790USgal; 640 to 660impgal). The cockpit was moved slightly aft, and the wingspan was increased to 14.83m (48.7ft). The three aircraft were fitted with different engines: the first one (no.1685) had a 370kW (500hp)Hispano-Suiza 12Hb, the others had 410kW (550hp)Renault 12K and 390kW (520hp)Farman 12Wers engines. In 1927, no.1685 received a new 450kW (600hp)Hispano 12Lb engine, its fuel capacity was extended to 3,500l (920USgal; 770impgal) and its wingspan was further increased by 1m (3.3ft). It was christened Nungesser et Coli after the two airmen who disappeared in a transatlantic flight attempt in May 1927. A fifth aircraft was built (no.1554) for Greece, called Hellas, with a 410kW (550hp)Hispano 12Hb.[2] (Other Br.19 aircraft may have received additional fuel tanks for long distance flights, but these were not officially called Br.19 GR. Some sources mention a Belgian Br.19 GR, maybe a confusion with the Belgian Br.19 TR.)
Built in 1927 with various aerodynamical refinements and 3,735l (987USgal; 822impgal) of fuel in the fuselage. With an additional fuel tank in the wing, the total fuel capacity was 4,125l (1,090USgal; 907impgal). Five were built by Breguet and two by the Spanish company CASA. Three of the French aircraft had a 450kW (600hp)Hispano-Suiza 12Lb, one had a 410kW (550hp)Renault 12K, and one had a 340kW (450hp)Lorraine 12Eb. The first Bidon Hispano was sold to Belgium, and the Bidon Renault was sold to China after a Paris–Beijing flight. The third Bidon Hispano became the French Br.19 TF.[2] The second Spanish Bidon was christened Jesús del Gran Poder, and flew from Sevilla to Bahia (Brazil).[5]
The last and most advanced long-distance variant, built in 1929, and designed for transatlantic flight. The French Super Bidon was the third Br.19 TR Hispano, named Point d'Interrogation, with a modified fuselage, a wingspan of 18.3m (60ft), and 5,370l (1,420USgal; 1,180impgal) total fuel capacity.[6] It was powered by a 450kW (600hp)Hispano-Suiza 12Lb engine, later replaced by a 480kW (650hp)Hispano-Suiza 12NLb. Another aircraft, with a closed canopy, was built in Spain in 1933. Christened Cuatro Vientos, it flew from Sevilla to Cuba, and disappeared while attempting to reach Mexico.[7]
Utilizing the experience with long-distance variants, this improved reconnaissance variant was developed in 1928, maybe for export purposes. It remained a prototype only (with civilian register F-AIXP).[2]
Br.19.7
The most popular of the late variants developed in 1930 with a 450kW (600hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Nb engine, giving a maximum speed of 242km/h (131kn; 150mph). The first five machines were converted in France for Yugoslavia, then a number were built in Yugoslavia, and a further 50 built in France for export to Turkey.
Br.19.8
With a 580kW (780hp)Wright GR-1820-F-56 Cyclone radial engine, 48 Br.19.7 airframes were eventually completed as Br.19.8's in Yugoslavia. Their maximum speed was 279km/h (151kn; 173mph).
Br.19.9
A single prototype developed in Yugoslavia with a 640kW (860hp)Hispano-Suiza 12Ybrs engine.
(Breguet 19 seaplane) Fitted with twin floats as a seaplane, a single prototype (no.1132) was produced for France. Another aircraft sold to Japan was fitted with floats built there by Nakajima.[2]
Nakajima-Breguet Reconnaissance Seaplane
Nakajima built Breguet 19-A2B seaplanes.
Br.19T
Br.19T bis
Br.19 Limousine
(for six passengers, with a thicker fuselage), but these were never built.[2]
In total, more than 2,000 Breguet 19s were manufactured in France, and about 700 license-built by Spanish CASA, Japanese Nakajima, Belgian SABCA and the Yugoslavian aircraft factory in Kraljevo.[8]
Belgian Air Force bought six Br.19 B2s in 1924, and further 146 A2s and B2s were manufactured in under licence by the SABCA works in 1926–30. They were powered with Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb and Hispano-Suiza 12Ha engines, and used until the late 1930s.
Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin is claimed to have ordered 70 Breguet 19s, but these were not delivered. Similarly, an order for four Br.19s from the central government was not met. Manchuria did acquire a single Br.19A2 in 1926 and a Br.19.GR in 1929.[10]
The French Army's Aéronautique Militaire operated its first Breguet 19s in the A2 variant from the autumn of 1924, the B2 variant from June 1926, then the fighter C2 and CN2 variants. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, they were the most numerous French combat aircraft. In metropolitan France, they were withdrawn from service in the early 1930s; the last Br.19 CN2 was withdrawn in 1935. Until 1938, they were still used by the French Air Force (successor to the Aéronautique Militaire) in colonies in the Middle East and North Africa - among others, they were used there to suppress native rebellions.
According to some publications, Japan bought a number, and they were license-built in Nakajima, though this is not confirmed, apart from the two aircraft bought by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.
Polish Air Force bought 250 Breguet 19 A2s and B2s, with 340kW (450hp) Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb engines, in 1925–30. 20 aircraft were reportedly the longer-range reconnaissance variant, but details are not known. the first Br.19 entered Polish service in 1926, but most were delivered in 1929–30. They were withdrawn from combat units in 1932–37, and used in training units until 1939. They were not used in combat during the Invasion of Poland of 1939 and most were destroyed on the ground.
Aeronáutica Militar bought a prototype and a license in 1923, and started production in the CASA| works, in A2 and B2 variants. The first 19 aircraft were imported, the next 26 completed from French parts, then 177 were manufactured (50 of them had Hispano-Suiza engine, the rest the Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb engine). The Breguet 19 was the basic equipment of Spanish bomber and reconnaissance units until the initial period of the Spanish Civil War. In July 1936, there were less than hundred in service in the Spanish Republican Air Force. They were actively used as bombers during the war, especially on the government's side. In 1936, the Nationalists bought an additional twenty from Poland through the SEPEWE syndicate. With an advent of more modern fighters, the Br.19 suffered many losses, and after 1937 were withdrawn from frontline service. The Republican side lost 28 aircraft, and Nationalists lost 10 (including 2 Republican and 1 Nationalist aircraft, that deserted). The remaining aircraft were used for training until 1940.
Sabiha Gökçen holding a bomb before the bombardment mission over Dersim with her Breguet 19.
Turkish Air Force bought 20 Br.19 B2s, then 50 Br.19.7s in 1932. Some of these aircraft were used in bombardment and reconnaissance missions during the Dersim Rebellion.
Yugoslav Royal Air Force bought 100 Br.19 A2s in 1924, and in 1927 acquired a license to manufacture them in a new factory in Kraljevo. The first batch of 85 aircraft were assembled from French parts, and a further 215 were built from scratch. The first 150 aircraft in Yugoslavian service had Lorraine-Dietrich engines, the next 150 – 370kW (500hp)Hispano-Suiza 12Hb engines, and the last 100 – 310kW (420hp)Gnome-Rhone Jupiter 9Ab radial engines. From 1932, the Br.19.7 variant was manufactured – the first five were built in France, the next 75 in Kraljevo (51 according to other publications), and a further 48 aircraft, lacking engines, were completed in 1935–1937 as Br.19.8's, with 580kW (780hp)Wright Cyclone radial engines. (Some publications give different numbers of Yugoslavian Bre.19s). Some of these Yugoslavian aircraft were used in combat after the German attack on Yugoslavia in 1941.
SFR Yugoslav Air Force operated one Croatian Br.19 taken by its pilot and delivered to the partisans of Tito, and used in June–July 1942, until it was shot down. Another two, captured by the new Communist government forces in April 1945, were used to pursue Ustashes.
Record variants
Both standard and modified Breguet 19s were used for numerous record-breaking flights. The first was the Br.19 prototype, which won a military aircraft speed contest in Madrid on 17 February 1923. On 12 March 1923, it also set an international altitude record of 5,992m (19,659ft) carrying a 500kg (1,100lb) load. It was later bought by the Spanish government.
The Jesús del Gran Poder, a special version of the Breguet 19 that flew to Brazil from Spain in 1929
Many crews made long-distance flights in Br.19s. In February 1925, Thieffry flew from Brussels to Leopoldville in central Africa, a distance of 8,900km (5,500mi). Two Br.19 A2s were bought by the Japanese Asahi Shimbun newspaper and fitted with additional fuel tanks. They were flown by H. Abe and K. Kawachi on the Tokyo-Paris-London route in July 1925, covering 13,800km (8,600mi). Between 27 August and 25 September 1926, the Polish crew of Boleslaw Orlinski flew the Warsaw-Tokyo route (10,300km (6,400mi)) and back, in a modified Br.19 A2, despite the fact that one of its lower wings was broken on the way. On June 8, 1928 a modified Greek Br.A2 ("ΕΛΛΑΣ"), flown by C. Adamides and E. Papadakos, embarked on a long distance tour around the Mediterranean landing without incident at Tatoi airfield, Athens, on July 1st. Between 1927 and 1930, Romanian, Yugoslavian and Polish Br.19s were often used in Little Entente air races.
Point D'Interrogation at Le Bourget
Breguet 19 GRs and TRs set several world records, mostly of long-distance non-stop flights, starting with Arrachart and Lemaitre's 3,166km (1,967mi) flight from Paris to Villa Cisneros in 24½ hours on 2–3 February 1925. On 14–15 July 1926, Girier and Dordilly set a new record of 4,716km (2,930mi) between Paris and Omsk, beaten on 31 August-1 September by Challe and Weiser's 5,174km (3,215mi), and on 28 October by Dieudonne Costes and Rignot's 5,450km (3,390mi). From 10 October 1927 – 14 April 1928, Costes and Le Brix flew a Br.19 GR (named Nungesser-Coli) around the world, covering 57,000km (35,000mi) - though the journey between San Francisco and Tokyo was taken by ship.
The Super Bidon was created especially for the purpose of a transatlantic flight. It was named Point d'Interrogation ("The Question Mark"). Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte set a non-stop distance record of 7,905km (4,912mi) from Paris to Moullart on 27–29 September 1929 on this aircraft. Then on 1–2 September 1930, they flew from Paris to New York City, a distance of 6,200km (3,900mi) making the first non-stop east-west crossing of the North Atlantic by a fixed-wing aircraft.[11] The second Super Bidon, the Spanish Cuatro Vientos, vanished over Mexico with M. Barberan and J. Collar Serra, after a transatlantic flight from Seville to Cuba on 10–11 June 1933.
The Amiot 143M was a late 1930s French medium bomber designed to meet 1928 specifications for a bomber capable of day/night bombing, long-range reconnaissance and bomber escort.
The Lublin R-VIII was a Polish bomber, reconnaissance aircraft and seaplane designed in the late 1920s by the Plage i Laśkiewicz factory in Lublin. It was the first in-house design of Plage i Laśkiewicz, and the first with the name Lublin.
Potez 25 was a French twin-seat, single-engine biplane designed during the 1920s. A multi-purpose fighter-bomber, it was designed as a line aircraft and used in a variety of roles, including fighter and escort missions, tactical bombing and reconnaissance missions. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Potez 25 was the standard multi-purpose aircraft of over 20 air forces, including French, Polish and American. It was also popular among private operators, notably mail transport companies.
The ANF Les Mureaux 110 and its derivatives were a family of French reconnaissance aircraft developed in the 1930s. They were all-metal, parasol-wing monoplanes that seated the pilot and observer in tandem open cockpits. The aircraft were widely used in the Battle of France, but were all scrapped soon thereafter.
The Letov Š-16 was a Czechoslovak single-engined, two-seat biplane bomber. It was designed by Alois Šmolík at Letov Kbely. The Š-16 first flew in 1926.
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The Blériot-SPAD S.61 was a French fighter aircraft developed in 1923. Designed by André Herbemont, the S.61 was a conventional biplane, abandoning the swept upper wing used by Herbemont 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 was impressed enough to order 250, as well as purchase licences for local production. The Romanian Air Force also ordered 100 aircraft. About 30 were built in Poland, by the CWL.
The Breguet 280T was a French biplane airliner of the late 1920s, created by the manufacturer as a means of finding a civil market for their 19 warplane, as they had once tried before with the 26T.
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The Farman F.120 and its derivatives were a family of multi-engine airliners and bombers of the 1920s built by the Farman Aviation Works in France.
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Andersson, Lennart. A History of Chinese Aviation: Encyclopedia of Aircraft and Aviation in China to 1949. Taipei, Republic of China:AHS of ROC, 2008. ISBN978-957-28533-3-7.
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