| Potez 39 | |
|---|---|
| Role | Observation |
| Manufacturer | Potez |
| First flight | January 1930 |
| Introduction | 1934 |
| Retired | 1940 |
| Primary users | French Air Force Peruvian Air Force |
| Number built | 112 plus prototypes |
The Potez 39 was a French two-seat single-engined parasol wing monoplane reconnaissance and observation aircraft of the 1930s.
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The Potez 39 was designed to a 1928 requirement for an aircraft to replace the Potez 25 and Breguet 19 machines then in service with the French Air Force in the A2 (Artillerie Biplace - two seat observation aircraft) role. The aircraft was a parasol monoplane of all-metal construction, the first all metal Potez aircraft, with a tailwheel undercarriage. It was powered by a Hispano-Suiza 12H engine of 580 bhp (433 kW) as required by the specification. The crew of two sat in open, tandem cockpits, with the observer being armed with two Lewis guns on a ring mounting, and the pilot being armed with a single synchronised Darne machine gun, while light bombs could be carried in a small internal bomb-bay and on external racks. A fixed camera was fitted, operating through a hatch in the fuselage floor.[1][2]
The prototype flew in January 1930. Although the Breguet 27 was selected as the winner of the competition, both it and the Potez, which was runner-up, were chosen for production.[1] Compared to the Potez 25, of which over 2000 were ordered, production of the Potez 39 series was on a small scale, 100 Potez 390 aircraft being built for France and 12 Potez 391 variants, powered by a Lorraine-Dietrich 12H engine of 700 bhp, for the Peruvian Air Force. A number of prototype and development aircraft, including a floatplane, were tested but no further orders were received.
First production aircraft were delivered in 1934 and the Potez 39 began to be replaced by ANF Les Mureaux 117, Amiot 143 and Potez 540 aircraft began in 1936. At the outbreak of the Second World War the Potez 39 remained in service with seven observation squadrons of the French Air Force, but these, along with the Breguet 27-equipped units, were withdrawn from the front in October 1939. The Potez 39 continued to serve in training units until the armistice of June 1940, at which time 41 remained in Metropolitan France. These aircraft were scrapped soon afterwards.
Data from Breffort & Jouineau, L'Aviation française de 1939 à 1942, Tome 2.
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
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