aircraft/loadouts Loire 46

[CaID 8,992]

 

i would like to suggest obvious rival plane of the D.371, the Loire 46

 

^{Loire 46 prototype in 1935}

 

The Loire 46 was a fighter plane with a bit more sucess than the Loire 45. the Loire 40s program was started with the request of monoplane fighter from the french gouverment in 1930. the competition saw a lot of interesting plane such as the D.500 and S.510. Loire was proposing a series of plane able to fit multiple engine. loire was proposing 6 different model. Loire 40 to 46. while the loire 40, 41, 42 wasn't built. the Loire 43, a natural evolution of the previous plane, was built and at his first flight, while flying at 9000m, the plane suddenly dive and crash killing his pilot. the investigation concluded that the pilot lose consciousness due to the altitude. the Loire 45 was tested and unsuccessful due to the poor visibility and maneuverability. the Loire 46 was an improved version of both Loire 43 and 45. the main and most important improvement of the Loire 46 was the greatly improved visibility for the pilot to actually making him see clearly foward. the plane was redrawn with this in mind, the wing was also changed to have their shoulder a bit higher and the engine was more powerful to gain more maneuverability.

the plane flew at first the 1st September 1934 at the aerodrome of Baule-Escoublac. the prototype was at first powered by a Gnome et Rhône 14 Kcs. the engine wasn't the one planned but fitting it was convenient to accelerate the test. this first flight had for purpose to see if the improvement to his sail was really making the visibility better while also making serial test on the design. the plane was then send back to the workshop to fit a new Gnome et Rhône 14 Kfs of 930hp and a oerlikon 20mm cannon on each wing. the plane was then returning into test flight and was proved a lot more maneuverable and having a excellent climbing rate. a pre-serie of 5 plane was ordered with this configuration. later a order of 40 plane was made without engine or equipment. at the end of the year, the order was increased to 60 planes for the armée de l'aire. those plane was be various equipment such as a radio (new for the planes in France) equipment for flying at night and four 7.5mm MAC 34 in the wing. the planes was deliver in February 1936 with serial month late. the five pre-serie plane armed with 20mm and without radio and equipment for night flight was disarmed at Villacoublay and sent to the republican Spanish forces in Barcelona in February 1936. while the performance of the Loire 46 was not really good against the newer plane, it was still considered as modern because of the nigh equipment of the radio. the plane was serving in the fighter squadron until 1939 when it was replaced by the MS.406. the Loire 46 finished his service as training plane for the polish pilot in 1940.

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 7.88 m (25 ft 10¼ in)
• Wingspan: 11.83 m (38 ft 9¾ in)
• Height: 4.13 m (13 ft 6⅝ in)
• Wing area: 19.50 m² (209.9 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 1,450 kg (3,197 lb)
• Loaded weight: 2,100 kg (4,630 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Gnome-Rhône 14Kfs 14-cylinder, air-cooled radial piston engine, 694 kW (930 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 370 km/h (200 knots, 230 mph)
• Range: 750 km (466 miles)
• Service ceiling: 11,750 m^[3] (38,550 ft)
• Rate of climb: 12.09 meters per second (2,411.76 feet per minute)
• Climb to 3,000 m (9,840 ft): 3.3 min

Armament

• Guns: 4× fixed forward-firing 7.5 mm (300rnd each) MAC 1934 machine guns mounted in the wings
• OR: 2x oerlikon 20mm (60rnd each) cannon mounted under the wing. (pre-serie only)
•  

source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loire_46

http://www.aviastar.org/air/france/loire_46.php

http://forum.worldofwarplanes.com/index.php?/topic/4563-loire-46/

http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fww1/loire46.html

Edited May 19, 2018 by CaID

[SAUBER_KH7 3,326]

Open for Discussion.

[onemax9000 1,242]

+1

[Milocat 4,848]

This would be fun as an extra reserve.  +1.

[Atomeur 529]

This plane can be fun to play !

Here you can see this plane is flight at 15 min. 27

http://archives.ecpad.fr/journal-de-guerre-34-semaine-du-23-mai-1940/