Latécoère 380

Latécoère 380
Role	Flying boat mail plane
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Latécoère
First flight	24 August 1930
Primary user	Aéropostale
Number built	5

The Latécoère 380 was a flying boat airplane built in France in 1928 for use on Aéropostale's mail routes to South America. The plane later saw military service as a maritime patrol aircraft.

It was a conventional flying boat design with a parasol wing braced to sponsons on the duselage sides, and two engines mounted in a tandem push-pull pair. In September 1931, it was used to set six world seaplane records, including three speed-with-load-over-distance records and a closed circuit distance-with-load record of 2,208 km (1,372 mi). A second mail plane was constructed soon afterwards, with the three military examples following in 1934.

Variants

• Latécoère 380 - mailplane version (2 built)
• Latécoère 381 - maritime patrol version (3 built). Armed with twin 7.5 mm Darne machine guns in three positions, and 300 kg (660 lb) of bombs on underwing racks.

Unbuilt variants

• Latécoère 382 - tandem Hispano engines, weights and performance similar to Latécoère 381.
• Latécoère 383 - 'Un Hydravion d'exploration', with reduced span and wing area and four 350 hp Gnome-Rhône 7Kd engines mounted fore and aft of the wing in tandem pairs. The cabin was enlarged and fitted out as living quarters.
• Latécoère 383 bis - The Latécoère 383 fitted with Latécoère 381 wings.
• Latécoère 384 - The designation of the Latécoère 383 fitted with four 350 hp Hispano-Suiza 9Qa engines.
• Latécoère 384 bis - The designation of the Latécoère 383 bis fitted with four 350 hp Hispano-Suiza 9Qa engines.
• Latécoère 385 - The designation of the Latécoère 383/4 fitted with three 500 hp Gnome-Rhône 9Kbr engines, two tractor and one pusher in wing mounted nacelles.
• Latécoère 386 - The designation of the Latécoère 381 fitted with three 700 hp Gnome-Rhone 14Kbr engines, two tractor and one pusher in wing mounted nacelles.

Operators

 France

• Aéronavale
  • Escadrille 3E3 (Saint-Raphaël, 1934)
• Aéropostale

Specifications (Laté 380)

General characteristics

• Crew: Three
• Length: 17.20 m (56 ft 65 in)
• Wingspan: 31.40 m (103 ft 0 in)
• Wing area: 130.0 m² (1,400 ft²)
• Empty weight: 5,475 kg (12,070 lb)
• Gross weight: 9,475 kg (20,889 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Hispano-Suiza 12Ydrs, 511 kW (685 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 209 km/h (130 mph)
• Range: 4,000 km (2,190 miles)
• Service ceiling: 4,700 m (15,400 ft)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Latécoère.

• Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 564. 
• aviafrance.com
• Уголок неба