Potez 452

Potez 452
Potez 45 prototype
General information
Type	Naval reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	Potez
Designer	M. Delaruelle
Status	Retired
Primary user	French Navy
Number built	16
History
Introduction date	1936
First flight	1935
Retired	1944

The Potez 452 was a French flying boat designed and built by Potez in response to a French Navy specification for a shipboard reconnaissance machine for use on its battleships and cruisers.

Design

In 1930, the French Navy issued a specification for a small, two-seat seaplane, which was required to operate from French navy ships and carry out observation duties. The aircraft needed to have folding wings for storage aboard ship, and would be launchable by catapult. ^{[1] [2]} The specification resulted in proposals from Bodiansky (the Bodiansky 30), Chantiers Aéro-Maritimes de la Seine (the CAMS 90), Gourdou-Leseurre (the GL-831) and Levasseur (the Levasseur PL.12) as well as from Potez. ^[1]

Potez's design, the Potez 45, which was produced by a team led by engineer M. Delaruelle, was a single-engine parasol monoplane flying boat of mixed wood and metal construction. ^[3] The wings had an unswept centre-section and swept, folding outer sections, which were fitted with leading-edge slats. The engine nacelle was mounted on the front of the wing centre-section. The pilot and observer sat in separate cockpits in the hull. ^[4]

The prototype Potez 45 was completed in March 1932 and was sent to the Étang de Berre for testing, making its first flight in April that year. ^{[1] [2]} After initial testing, the aircraft's stabilizing floats were redesigned and moved further outboard on the wings. Thus modified, on 5 September, the aircraft was sent to Saint-Raphaël for official testing. Here, the Potez was criticised for its handling on the water, with the aircraft tending to dig into waves rather than skim over them, and was also considered underpowered. ^[2] It first flew in 1935, and after satisfactory flight trials, it began equipping French ships a year later. Only sixteen Potez 452s were built. The Spanish Navy also expressed interest, which resulted in Spain acquiring a manufacturing license, ^[5] but the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War prevented any Spanish production. ^{[1] [6]}

Operational history

The Potez 452 was active as a reconnaissance aircraft during the early months of World War II. During that time there was no significant naval action in the Mediterranean where most of the French Navy was operating. After the French capitulation to Germany in June 1940, these aircraft continued to serve with their ships and as part of Vichy France's military, briefly engaged their former ally Great Britain. Other Potez 452s were deployed to French colonies in French Indochina, which included reconnaissance duty in the 1940–1941 Franco-Thai War between the Vichy French controlled colonies and Thailand and some remained in service until 1944, by which time the final survivors were retired. In 1937 a single Potez 452 had been supplied to the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service for evaluation as the Potez HXP1.

Variants

Potez 453 photo from L'Aerophile July 1936

Potez 450

Prototype flying-boat with a 170 kW (230 hp) Salmson 9Ab engine, one built

Potez 452

Production variant with a 260 kW (350 hp) Hispano-Suiza 9Qd engine, 48 built.

Potez 453

Floatplane fighter derived from the 452, powered by a 540 kW (720 hp) Hispano-Suiza 14Hbs. A single prototype was built, first flown on 24 September 1935.

Operators

  France

• French Navy

Vichy France

• Vichy French Air Force

Specifications (Potez 452)

Potez 453 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile July 1936

Data fromWar Planes of the Second World War:Volume Five Flying Boats ^[7]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length:10.23 m (33 ft 6+3⁄4 in)
• Wingspan:13.00 m (42 ft 7+5⁄8 in)
• Width: 5.37 m (17 ft 7 in) (wings folded) ^[6]
• Height:3.40 m (11 ft 1+7⁄8 in)
• Wing area: 24.30 m² (261.6 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 1,102 kg (2,429 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,701 kg (3,751 lb) (catapult launch)
• Max takeoff weight: 1,750 kg (3,858 lb) (water takeoff)
• Powerplant: 1 × Hispano-Suiza 9Qd 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 260 kW (350 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 217 km/h (135 mph, 117 kn) at 2,000 m (6,560 ft)
• Cruise speed: 170 km/h (110 mph, 92 kn) ^[6]
• Stall speed: 72 km/h (45 mph, 39 kn) ^[6]
• Range: 500 km (310 mi, 270 nmi) at 2,000 m (6,600 ft) and 170 km/h (110 mph; 92 kn) ^[6]
• Endurance: 5 hr 10 min
• Service ceiling: 5,500 m (18,040 ft)
• Time to altitude: 7 min 15 s to 2,000 m (6,560 ft)

Armament

• Guns: One 7.5 mm (0.295 inch) machine gun mounted in flexible position in rear cockpit

See also

Related lists

• List of aircraft of World War II
• List of Interwar military aircraft
• List of flying boats and floatplanes

References

Notes

1. Green 1968, p. 39.
2. Ledet Avions September 1993, p. 15.
3. Ledet Avions September 1993, pp. 15, 18–19.
4. Ledet Avions September 1993, pp. 18–19.
5. "French flying boats and amphibians | Let Let Let – Warplanes". letletlet-warplanes.com. Retrieved 2016-11-12.
6. Ledet Avions October 1993, p. 13.
7. Green 1968, p. 41.

Bibliography

• Bousquet, Gérard. French Flying Boats of WW II. Sandomierz, Poland: Stratus, 2013 ISBN   978-83-63678-06-7
• "Courrier Lecteurs". Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French). No. 9. November 1993. pp. 28–30. ISSN   1243-8650.
• Green, William (1968). War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Five Flying Boats. London: Macdonald. ISBN   0-356-01449-5.
• Ledet, Michel (September 1993). "Le Potez 452 (1^ère partie)" [The Potez 452 (Part 1)]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French). No. 7. pp. 15–19. ISSN   1243-8650.
• Ledet, Michel (October 1993). "Le Potez 452, 2^ème partie" [The Potez 452, Part 2]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French). No. 8. pp. 12–17. ISSN   1243-8650.
• Roux, Robert J. (June 1970). "Le chasseur Potez 453" [The Fighter Potez 453]. Le Album de Fanatique de l'Aviation (in French). No. 12. pp. 7–9. ISSN   0757-4169.