Loire 46

Last updated
Loire 46
Loire 46.jpg
RoleTrainer/fighter
Manufacturer Loire Aviation
First flight1 September 1934
Introduction1936
Retired1940
Statusretired
Primary user Armee de l'Air
Number built61
Loire 46 of the Spanish Republican Air Force Loire 46-Spanish Republican AF-Madrid.jpg
Loire 46 of the Spanish Republican Air Force

The Loire 46 was a French single-seater fighter aircraft of the 1930s. A high-winged monoplane designed and built by Loire Aviation, it was purchased by the French Air Force. It was also supplied to the Spanish Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, but was almost out of service by the outbreak of World War II.

Contents

Design and development

The Loire 46 was an improved modification of two previous Loire fighters—the Loire 43 and 45. Although improved, it resembled the earlier machines retaining their gull mono-wing configuration, open cockpit, and fixed landing gear. The first of five prototype Loire 46s flew in September 1934. It demonstrated excellent handling characteristics and 60 production aircraft were ordered by the Armée de l'Air .

Operational history

The initial machines arrived at fighter Escadrilles in August 1936. In September 1936, the five prototype Loire 46s were sent to the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. [1]

By the beginning of World War II, the Loire 46's gull wing configuration was recognized as obsolete and most of these fighters had been relegated to Armée de l'Air training schools, where they were used as advanced trainers. However, one fighter Escadrille was still equipped with the Loire 46 during the early weeks of the war. Their performance against modern German fighters was predictable.

Variants

Loire 46.01
First Loire 46 prototype.
Loire 46
Single-seat fighter/trainer aircraft.

Operators

Flag of France.svg  France
Flag of Spain (1931-1939).svg  Spain

Specifications (Loire 46)

Data fromThe Complete Book of Fighters [2]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Comparable and similar aircraft

Related lists

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bloch MB.200</span> Type of aircraft

The MB.200 was a French bomber aircraft of the 1930s designed and built by Societé des Avions Marcel Bloch. A twin-engined high-winged monoplane with a fixed undercarriage, over 200 MB.200s were built for the French Air Force, and the type was also licence built by Czechoslovakia, but it soon became obsolete, and was largely phased out by the start of the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bloch MB.210</span> 1934 bomber aircraft family by Avions Marcel Bloch

The Bloch MB.210 and MB.211 were the successors of the French Bloch MB.200 bomber developed by Société des Avions Marcel Bloch in the 1930s and differed primarily in being low wing monoplanes rather than high wing monoplanes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farman F.220</span> Type of aircraft

The Farman F.220 and its derivatives were thick-sectioned, high-winged, four engined French monoplanes from Farman Aviation Works. Based on the push-pull configuration proven by the F.211, design started in August 1925 and the first flight of the prototype was on 26 May 1932. The largest bomber to serve in France between the two world wars was the final F.222 variant. One variation was intended to be an airliner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breda Ba.65</span> Italian ground-attack aircraft in World War II

The Breda Ba.65 was an Italian all-metal single-engine, low-wing monoplane used by Aviazione Legionaria during the Spanish Civil War and Regia Aeronautica in the first half of World War II. It was the only Italian ground-attack aircraft that saw active service in this role. It saw service almost exclusively in the North African and Middle-Eastern theatre. In addition to more than 150 aircraft operated by the Italian forces, a total of 55 were exported and used by the air forces of Iraq, Chile and Portugal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dewoitine D.371</span> Type of aircraft

The Dewoitine 37 was the first of a family of 1930s French-built monoplane fighter aircraft.

French seaplane carrier <i>Foudre</i> French seaplane carrier

The Foudre was a French seaplane carrier, the first in history. Her development followed the invention of the seaplane in 1910 with the French Le Canard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ANF Les Mureaux 113</span> Type of aircraft

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 with the pilot and observer in tandem open cockpits. The type was widely used in the Battle of France, but were all scrapped soon afterwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dewoitine D.27</span> Type of aircraft

The Dewoitine D.27 was a parasol monoplane fighter aircraft designed by Émile Dewoitine in 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morane-Saulnier M.S.225</span> Type of aircraft

The Morane-Saulnier M.S.225 was a French fighter aircraft of the 1930s. It was produced in limited quantities to be used as a transitional aircraft between the last of the biplanes and the first monoplane fighters.

The Potez XV was a French single-engine, two-seat observation biplane designed as a private venture by Louis Coroller and built by Potez and under licence in Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potez 540</span> 1933 French reconnaissance bomber aircraft

The Potez 540 was a French multi-role aircraft of the 1930s. Designed and built by Potez, it served with the French Air Force as a reconnaissance bomber, also serving with the Spanish Republican Air Force during the Spanish Civil War. Although obsolete as a bomber, it remained in service in support roles and in France's overseas colonies at the start of World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dewoitine D.1</span> Type of aircraft

The Dewoitine D.1 was a French single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1920s, built by the French industrial company Dewoitine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caproni Ca.164</span> Type of aircraft

The Caproni Ca.164 was a training biplane produced in Italy shortly prior to World War II. It was a largely conventional biplane intended as a follow-on to the Ca.100 and sharing that aircraft's layout with a slightly smaller upper wing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caudron C.440 Goéland</span> Type of aircraft

The Caudron C.440 Goéland ("seagull") was a six-seat twin-engine utility aircraft developed in France in the mid-1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caudron C.690</span> Type of aircraft

The Caudron C.690 was a single-seat training aircraft developed in France in the late 1930s to train fighter pilots to handle high-performance aircraft. It was a conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane that bore a strong resemblance to designer Marcel Riffard's racer designs of the same period. Caudron attempted to attract overseas sales for the aircraft, but this resulted in orders for only two machines - one from Japan, and the other from the USSR. In the meantime, the first of two prototypes was destroyed in a crash that killed René Paulhan, Caudron's chief test pilot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wibault 7</span> French monoplane fighter

The Wibault 7 was a 1920s French monoplane fighter designed and built by Société des Avions Michel Wibault. Variants were operated by the French and Polish military and built under licence for Chile as the Vickers Wibault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Accart</span>

Jean Accart was a French flying ace during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bréguet 410</span> Type of aircraft

The Bréguet 410 was a French bomber of the early 1930s. Not many of these twin-engined sesquiwing biplanes were built. At least one Breguet 413, one of its variants, was sold to the Spanish Republican Air Force during the Spanish Civil War.

Groupe de Chasse or groupe de chasse is the French language term for "fighter group" or "fighter wing". More literal translations include "pursuit group" and "hunting group".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Escadron de Chasse 3/11 Corse</span> Military unit

Escadron de Chasse is a French Air and Space Force fighter squadron currently stationed at BA 188 Djibouti Air Base.

References

  1. Taylor and Alexander 1969, pp. 106–107.
  2. Green and Swanborough 1994, p. 353.
  3. Donald 1997, p. 588.

Bibliography