| 661 | |
|---|---|
| Role | Passenger transport |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | S.N.C.A.N. |
| First flight | 18 July 1937 |
| Primary user | Air Afrique |
| Number built | 1 |
| Variants | Potez 662 |
The Potez 661 was a four-engined metal low-wing monoplane airliner developed in France just before World War II. The single example flew with Air Afrique on French colonial routes.
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In 1936 the well-established Potez company became part of the Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautique du Nord (S.N.C.A.N.), under the Law for the Nationalisation of Military Industries.[1] In 1937 they produced their first four-engined aircraft, the Type 661. This was[2] a commercial machine with seating for up to twelve passengers. It was a low wing cantilever, almost all-metal monoplane. The wing tapered with a nearly straight trailing edge[3] that carried outboard balanced ailerons and split trailing edge flaps over the whole of the centre section. The four 220 hp (164 kW) Renault 6-Q inverted inline engines were conventionally mounted of the front wing spar and drove variable-pitch twin-bladed propellers.
The fuselage[2] was a metal monocoque, with a port side passenger door aft of six windows[3] on each side, one per seat. Though the standard seat arrangement was for twelve, two seats could be removed to allow the installation of chaises-longues for longer flights. The pilots' cabin was enclosed, with side by side dual control seating. The tail unit carried twin vertical endplate fins, slightly oval on a tailplane that had strong dihedral. The balanced rudders and elevators were metal structures with the only fabric covering used on the aircraft. The elevators carried trim tabs. There was a small tailwheel, the main undercarriage retracting into the inner engine nacelles.
The first flight was on 18 July 1937.[4] By August 1938 the 661 had completed its Air Ministry tests[5] and by April 1939 its 100 hr "endurance" tests.[6] In mid-April it was handed over to Air Afrique[7] and had made its first flight[6] on the trans-Africa route from Dakar to Pointe Noire. Though only one was built before the war, it gained the reputation of being an economical transport.[3] There were suggestions, in war-time England at least that the Potez 661 or its more powerful development the Potez 662 might be built in occupied France for German use,[3] but there is no evidence that any more were produced.
Data from Grey 1972, pp. 110c
General characteristics
Performance
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