Bloch MB.150
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| MB.150 | |
|---|---|
 Marcel Bloch MB.151 |
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| Type | Fighter |
| Manufacturer | SNCASO |
| Maiden flight | October 1937 |
| Primary user | Armée de l'Air |
The Bloch MB.150 was a French low-wing, all-metal monoplane fighter aircraft with retractable landing gear and closed cockpit developed by Société des Avions Marcel Bloch as a contender in the 1934 French air ministry competition for a new fighter design.
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[edit] Development
Although the competition was won by the prototype Morane-Saulnier M.S.406, development proceeded culminating in the first attempted flight of the MB.150.01 prototype in 1936. Unfortunately, the plane proved unable to leave the ground. With modifications consisting of a strengthened wing of greater area, revised landing gear, and installation of a 940 hp (701 kW) Gnome-Rhone 14N-0 radial engine with a three-blade constant speed propeller, the MB.150 finally flew in October of 1937.
Handed over to the Centre d'Essais du Materiel Aerien (CEMA) for service trials, its performance proved sufficiently interesting to warrant further development. This brought, at the very beginning of 1938, a small increase in wing span and installation of a 14N-7 engine. When trials were completed in the late spring of 1938, SNCASO was awarded an order for a pre-production batch of 25 of these aircraft.
No such production of the MB-150.01 ever occurred, the plane being totally unsuitable to mass production. Redesign would lead to the MB.151.01 and MB.152.01 prototypes, developed and produced in parallel. By the outbreak of World War II, some 120 had reached the Armée de l'Air, but few of them were flyable, most missing their gunsights and propellers.
The MB.153 and MB.154 were intended as testbeds for American engines, but only the former flew, and when it crashed a few days later, damaged beyond repair, pursuit of these alternatives also ceased. Instead, attention shifted to extending the range of the MB.152. This was achieved by moving the cockpit aft in order to make room for a new fuel tank. Other modifications included a slightly broader wing and revised aerodynamics around the cowling. The result, designated MB.155 performed favourably in flight tests and was ordered into production in 1940, however only 10 aircraft had been completed by the fall of France. Under the terms of the armistice, the remaining 19 on the production line were completed and delivered into Vichy service. From there, some eventually made their way into the Luftwaffe after 1942.
The final member of the family, the MB.157 utilised a far more powerful engine and eventually became a very different aircraft as the design evolved from the MB.152 to accommodate the larger and heavier powerplant. Unfinished at the time of the armistice, it was ordered to be completed and flown under German supervision. Demonstrating superb performance, it was taken to Orly where the powerplant was removed for testing within a wind tunnel. The excellence in the design was confirmed. It was later destroyed in an Allied air raid.
[edit] Operational history
MB.151s and MB.152s equipped six fighter Groupes during the Battle of France, but proved completely outclassed by the Messerschmitt Bf 109E. They continued to fly in the Vichy French Air Force until this was disbanded. Some of these aircraft were then supplied to Romania, which flew them against the Russians.
Nine MB.151s were exported to Greece. They flew against the Italians and Germans scoring several air-to-air victories. During World War II the Bloch MB.152 had destroyed at least 188 enemy planes, and lost about 86 of their own.
[edit] Variants
- MB.150
Single MB.150.01 prototype
- MB.151
- MB.151.01 - single prototype
- MB.151C1 - initial production version (144 built)
- MB.152
- MB.152.01 - single prototype
- MB.152.C1 - uprated version produced in parallel with 151.C1 (482 built)
- MB.153
Single MB.153.01 prototype with Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine
- MB.154
Proposed version with Wright R-1820 Cyclone engine. Not built.
- MB.155
- MB.155.01 - single prototype converted from a MB.152
- MB.155C1 - production version (29 built)
- MB.157
Single prototype of advanced version, converted from MB.152 and equipped with Gnome-Rhône 14R engine.
[edit] Operators
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[edit] Specifications (MB.152C.1)
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.Data from {name of first source}
General characteristics
- Crew: one, pilot
- Length: 9.10 m (29 ft 10 in)
- Wingspan: 10.54 m (34 ft 7 in)
- Height: 3.20 m (9 ft 11 in)
- Wing area: 17.32 m² (186 ft²)
- Empty weight: 2,158 kg (4,758 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 2,800 kg (6,173 lb)
- Powerplant: 1× Gnome-Rhône 14N-25 radial engine, 757 kW (1030 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 509 km/h (274 knots, 315 mph)
- Range: 600 km (324 nm, 373 miles)
- Service ceiling 10,000 m (32,810 ft)
- Rate of climb: 590 m/min (1,935 ft/min)
Armament
- 2 × 20 mm Hispano 404 cannon (60-round drum) and 2 × 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine guns (500 rounds each) or
- 4 × MAC 1934s
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
- Belcarz, Bartłomiej. Morane MS 406C1, Caudron Cyclone CR 714C1, Bloch MB 151/152 (Polskie Skrzydła 2) (in Polish), Sandomierz, Poland: Stratus, 2004. ISBN 83-89450-21-6. About the use of the MB.151/152 by Polish Pilots of the Armée de l'Air.
- Breffort, Dominique & Jouineau, André. French Aircraft from 1939 to 1942, Volume 1: from Amiot to Curtiss. Paris, France: Histoire & Collections, 2004. ISBN 2-915239-23-1.
- Brindley, John F. French Fighters of World War Two, Volume One. Windsor, UK; Hylton Lacy Publishers Ltd., 1971. ISBN 0-85064-015-6.
- Cristesco, Michel. The M.Bloch 151 & 152 (Aircraft in Profile number 201). Leatherhead, Surrey, UK: Profile Publications Ltd., 1967. No ISBN.
- Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War, Fighters, Volume One. London: Macdonald & Co.(Publishers) Ltd., 1960. ISBN 0-356-01445-2.
- Joanne, Serge. Le Bloch MB-152 (Histoire de l'aviation 13). Outreau, France: LELA Presse, 2003. ISBN 2-914017-12-X. (In French)
- __________. Marcel Bloch 151/152. Sandomierz, Poland/Redbourn, UK: Mushroom Model Publications, 2007. ISBN 83-89450-28-3.
- Marchand, Patrick. Bloch 150,151,152,155,157,700 C1. Le Muy, France: Les éditions d'Along, 2000. ISBN 2-914403-10-0. (In French)
- Pelletier, Alain. French Fighters of World War II in Action (Aircraft Number 180). Carrollton, TX: Squadron/Signal Publications, Inc., 2002. ISBN 0-89747-440-6.
[edit] See also
Related lists
- List of aircraft of the Armée de l'Air, World War II
- List of military aircraft of France
- List of fighter aircraft
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