Engineering:Latécoère 631

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Short description: French flying boat airliner with 6 piston engines, 1942
Latécoère 631
Latécoère 631 in flight, 1947
General information
TypeFlying boat
National originFrance
ManufacturerLatécoère
Designer
Pierre-Georges Latécoère
Number built10 (Plus the prototype)
History
First flight4 November 1942
In service1947–1955

The Latécoère 631 was a civil transatlantic flying boat built by Latécoère, the largest ever built up to its time. The boat had six piston engines, and was designed for passenger service. Ordered in the late 1930s, its first flight was in 1942; it went on to a limited amount of use up to 1950. However, the type was not a success, being unreliable and uneconomic to operate. It was withdrawn from service after a series of fatal accidents. Five of the eleven aircraft built were written off in accidents and one was lost during World War II.

Design and development

Model of Latécoère 631 at Aeroscopia, Toulouse

The Latécoère 631 was the result of a specification issued in 1936 by the Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile for a 40-passenger airliner with a range of 4,000 km (2,500 mi). The aircraft was ordered in 1938. It was intended that it would be powered by six Gnome-Rhône 18P engines of 1,650 hp (1,230 kW) each. A competitor for this specification was the SNCASE SE.200 Amphitrite.[1]

Construction of the aircraft was stopped due to the outbreak of World War II and was not resumed until after the signing of the Franco-German Armistice in 1940.[1] The prototype, registered F-BAHG, first flew on 4 November 1942. It was subsequently confiscated by the Germans,[1] and passed to the Luftwaffe, who allocated the codes 61+11 to it.[2] The aircraft was flown to Lake Constance, where it was destroyed in an attack by two RAF Mosquito aircraft on 17 April 1944.[1][2]

In context, the first passenger flight across the Atlantic was in June 1939, by the Dixie Clipper; large flying boats were opening up long distance passenger and mail routes all over the world.[3] However, WW2 would soon intervene; flying boats were turned to military purposes and developments in the war reshaped post-war air travel.[3]

History

Latécoère 631 at the wharf of Biscarrosse lake

The second aircraft, F-BANT, first flew on 7 March 1945. It was powered by six Wright R-2600 Cyclone engines of 1,600 horsepower (1,200 kW) each.[1][4] Four aircraft were purchased by Air France, and entered service on the Biscarrosse-Port-Étienne-Fort de France route in July 1947. The aircraft were withdrawn from service in August 1948 following the loss of F-BDRC. SEMAF operated two aircraft until 1950, when the survivor was withdrawn following the loss of F-WANU. The Société France Hydro operated one aircraft until it was lost on 10 September 1955.[1] This was the last flying aircraft,[5] with the remaining four survivors being scrapped. The Latécoère 631 was not a success due to it being unreliable and uneconomic to operate.[1]

Operators

Data from Aeroplane Monthly 2014[1]

  • France Air France.
  • France Latécoère.
  • France SEMAF.
  • France Société France-Hydro.
  • 22px Luftwaffe.

Accidents and incidents

17 April 1944
The Latécoère 631 prototype (F-BAHG; 61+11) was destroyed in an attack by two RAF Mosquito aircraft.[1] SNCASE SE.200 Amphitrite 20+01 was destroyed in the same attack.[2]
Latécoère 631 F-BANU Henri Guillaumet Dakar 1947
31 October 1945
An Air France Latécoère 631 (F-BANT) was operating a flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Montevideo, Uruguay, and Buenos Aires, Argentina, when the propeller of No. 3 engine separated in flight and debris struck the No. 2 engine. A propeller blade sliced a 3 metres (9.8 ft) hole in the cabin, killing two passengers. A small fire started and an emergency landing was made in the Laguna de Rocha, Uruguay. The aircraft was subsequently repaired and returned to service.[4] The poet, diplomat and composer Vinicius de Moraes and writer Rubem Braga, both Brazilians, were on board.
21 February 1948
A Latécoère 631 (F-BDRD) was on a delivery flight from Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, to Biscarrosse, Landes when it crashed into the English Channel off Saint-Marcouf, Manche, in a snowstorm with the loss of all nineteen people on board. The aircraft lacked any ice protection system.[1][6]
Air France Latécoère 631 F-BDRC
1 August 1948
Air France Flight 072 (F-BDRC) ditched in the Atlantic Ocean for reasons unknown with the loss of all 52 people on board. The aircraft was operating a flight from Fort-de-France, Martinique, to Port-Étienne (now Nouadhibou), Mauritania. Following this loss, the Latécoère 631 was withdrawn from service by Air France.[1][6] The United States Coast Guard ship USCGC Campbell reported finding debris on August 4 but no sign of survivors.[7]
28 March 1950
A SEMAF Latécoère 631 (F-WANU) crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Cap Ferret, Gironde, after the aileron control couplings failed due to severe vibration in one of the engines' gearboxes with the loss of all twelve people on board. The aircraft was on a test flight from Biscarrosse to determine the cause of the crash of Air France Flight 072.[8]
10 September 1955
A France-Hydro Latécoère 631 (F-BDRE) suffered wing separation (probably due to wind shear) after flying into a tropical storm, and crashed 38 mi north of Banyo, French Cameroon, killing all 16 on board. The aircraft was on a flight from Lac Lérè, Chad, to Douala, French Cameroon (now Cameroon), en route to Biscarrosse for maintenance.[5]

Specifications (Latécoère 631)

Latécoère 631

Data from World Encyclopedia of Civil Aircraft[9]; Old Machine Press[10]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 5
  • Capacity: 46 passengers
  • Length: 43.46 m (142 ft 7 in)
  • Wingspan: 57.43 m (188 ft 5 in)
  • Height: 10.35 m (33 ft 11 in)
  • Wing area: 349.4 m2 (3,761 sq ft) [11]
  • Empty weight: 32,400 kg (71,430 lb) [11]
  • Gross weight: 71,350 kg (157,300 lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 75,000 kg (165,347 lb)
  • Fuel capacity: 50,600 L (13,400 US gal; 11,100 imp gal)
  • Oil capacity: 422 L (111 US gal; 93 imp gal) in the oil tank of each engine.
  • Powerplant: 6 × Wright GR-2600-A5B Twin Cyclone 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engines, 1,194 kW (1,600 hp) each
  • Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propellers, 4.3 m (14 ft 1 in) diameter

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 395 km/h (245 mph, 213 kn) at 1,800 m (5,900 ft)[11]
  • Cruise speed: 295 km/h (183 mph, 159 kn) at 500 m (1,600 ft)
  • Range: 6,035 km (3,750 mi, 3,259 nmi)
  • Wing loading: 92.7 kg/m2 (19.0 lb/sq ft)
  • Power/mass: 0.10 kW/kg (0.061 hp/lb)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Related lists

References

Citations

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Aeroplane Monthly 2014, pp. 102–103.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 61+11 Standing (ASN).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The Very First Passenger Flight Over the Atlantic". https://www.panam.org/explorations/1st-transatlantic-passenger-flight. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 F-BANT Accident (ASN).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "F-BDRE Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19550910-0. Retrieved 2 December 2013. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 F-BDRD Accident (ASN).
  7. ↑ "MISSING FLYING-BOAT". The Times (London) (51142): p. 4. 6 August 1948. 
  8. ↑ "F-WANU Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19500328-5. Retrieved 2 December 2013. 
  9. ↑ Angelucci 1986, p. 305.
  10. ↑ Old Machine Press.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Stroud 1993, p. 62.

Bibliography

Additional Sources

Template:Groupe Latécoère aircraft



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