Potez 54 / 540-542

1933

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  BOMBER, RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFTVirtual Aircraft Museum / France / Potez  

Potez 540

Built as a private venture, the Potez 54 M.4 category prototype flew for the first time on 14 November 1933. A multiplace de combat design by Louis Coroller, it was intended as a four-seater capable of performing duties as escort fighter, bomber or long-range reconnaissance aircraft. Largely of wood construction, the Potez 54 was a high-wing monoplane with twin fins and rudders, powered by two 515kW Hispano-Suiza 12Xbrs V-12 engines in streamlined nacelles which were connected to the fuselage by stub wings. The main landing gear units retracted into the nacelles, and bomb racks were mounted beneath the stub wings. During development the original tailplane was replaced by a single fin and rudder, and in this form the type was re-designated Potez 540 No. 1 and delivered to the Armee de I'Air on 25 November 1934. Parallel with the Potez 540 were developed the Potez 541 prototype, powered by Gnome-Rhone 14Kdrs radials, and the Potez 542 with 537kW Lorraine Petrel engines.

All versions had defensive armament of manually-operated nose and dorsal turrets and a semi-retractable ventral 'dustbin' position; radio, oxygen, night and blind flying equipment were standard, and reconnaissance cameras could be carried.

3-View 
Potez 540A three-view drawing of Potez 540 (1274 x 804)

Specification 
 MODELPotez 540
 ENGINE2 x Hispano-Suiza 12Xirs Vee piston engines, 515kW
 WEIGHTS
  Take-off weight5950 kg13118 lb
  Loaded weight3785 kg8345 lb
 DIMENSIONS
  Wingspan22.1 m73 ft 6 in
  Length16.2 m53 ft 2 in
  Height3.88 m13 ft 9 in
  Wing area76.0 m2818.06 sq ft
 PERFORMANCE
  Max. speed310 km/h193 mph
  Ceiling5182 m17000 ft
  Range1250 km777 miles
 ARMAMENT3 x 7.5mm machine-guns, 4 x 225kg or 10 x 55kg bombs

Comments
Klaatu83, e-mail, 24.06.2012 23:55

The "Multiplace de Combat" concept was a throwback to World War I, particularly to the relative success of the Caudron R-11 three-seat escort fighter. The idea of an all-purpose combat plane seemed to hold a great deal of appeal during the cash-strapped 1920s and 1930s, particularly in France. However, it proved to be as difficult in the 1930s to develop an single airplane that could effectively carry out all military missions as it still does today. As the old saying goes, "Jack of all trades and master of none".

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