Loire 102

Loire 102
General information
Type	Mail plane flying boat
Manufacturer	Loire
History
Manufactured	1
First flight	12 May 1936
Retired	1938

The Loire 102 was a 1930s French flying boat designed as a mail plane by Loire Aviation.

Development

The Loire 102 was designed to operate as a mailplane on the South Atlantic route between West Africa and Brazil. The prototype (registered F-AOVV and named Bretagne) first flew on 12 May 1936. It was a flying boat with a two step hull on top was a superstructure with a control cabin and crew compartments. In the forward hull was a cabin for four passengers, and to the rear were holds for mail, baggage and other cargo. It had a high braced wing on top of the wing was four Hispano-Suiza 12Xirs in tandem pairs (in tractor/pusher configuration). It originally had twin vertical tail surfaces but these were replaced with a single large fin and rudder. The aircraft had severe vibration problems which could not be fixed and Bretagne was scrapped in 1938 without going into service.

Specifications

Loire 102 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile July 1936

Data from Grey 1972, p. 104c

General characteristics

• Crew: 4
• Capacity: 4 passengers and cargo
• Length: 23 m (75 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 34 m (111 ft 7 in)
• Height: 6.95 m (22 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 125 m² (1,350 sq ft) the struts provided another 12 m² of lifting surface
• Empty weight: 9,600 kg (21,164 lb)
• Gross weight: 18,100 kg (39,904 lb) normal loaded
• Max takeoff weight: 18,500 kg (40,786 lb)
• Powerplant: 4 × Hispano-Suiza 12Xirs water-cooled V12 engine, 540 kW (720 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 310 km/h (190 mph, 170 kn) at 3,000 m (9,845 ft)
• Cruise speed: 250 km/h (160 mph, 130 kn) at 4,000 m (13,120 ft) and 55% power
• Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)
• Wing loading: 135 kg/m² (28 lb/sq ft)

See also

Related lists

• List of flying boats and floatplanes

Bibliography

• Bousquet, Gérard (2013). French Flying Boats of WW II. Sandomierz, Poland: Stratus. ISBN   978-83-63678-06-7.
• Grey, C.G. (1972). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938. London: David & Charles. ISBN   0-7153-5734-4.
• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). Orbis Publishing. p. 2378.