Loire 501
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
| name = Loire 501 | image = Loire 501 mg 7849.jpg | caption = Wind tunnel model of the Loire 501 }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type = Liaison flying boat | manufacturer = Loire | designer = | first flight = 7 September 1931 | introduced = 1933 | retired = 1940 | status = | primary user = French Navy | more users = | produced = | number built = 7 | unit cost = | developed from = | variants with their own articles = }} |
The Loire 501 was a single-engined French liaison and training flying boat of the 1930s produced by Loire Aviation. It was operated by the French Navy, remaining in service until 1940.
Design and development
In 1930, Loire Aviation, a subsidiary of the French shipyard Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire of Saint-Nazaire, started design of a single-engined flying boat for use as a trainer and a transport in France's overseas possessions. The resultant aircraft, the Loire 50, was an amphibian high-winged monoplane, with a {{convert|230|hp|kW|abbr=on}} pusher Salmson 9AB radial engine mounted above the wing. Construction was all-metal, with fabric-covered wings.Green 1968, p.30. The French government ordered construction of a prototype Loire 50 (together with a prototype of the three-engined Loire 60 flying boat) on 31 March 1931.Leyvastre 1970, p. 7
The Loire 50 first flew on 7 September 1931. Although it was damaged in an accident in October, it was repaired and entered service in 1932 as a trainer. It was returned to Loire in February 1933, where it was modified with a more powerful ({{convert|350|hp|kW|abbr=on}} Hispano-Suiza 9Qd engine, becoming the Loire 50bis, flying in this form on 18 October 1933.Green 1968, pp.30-31.Leyvastre 1970, p. 8 An order was placed for six aircraft similar to the Loire 50bis, designated Loire 501, delivery starting by the end of 1933. The Loire 501 remained in service at the start of the Second World War, with the last example still in use at Karouba in Tunisia on 15 August 1940.
Operators
;{{FRA}}
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=War Planes of the Second World War:Volume Five, Flying Boats Green 1968, p. 31.
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|height ft=14
|height in=8
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|wing area sqft=424.1
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|empty weight lb=3053
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|gross weight lb=4740
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|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Hispano-Suiza 9Qd
|eng1 type=9-cylinder radial engine
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|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=121
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|max speed note=at {{convert|3280|ft|m|disp=flip|abbr=on}}
|cruise speed kmh=
|cruise speed mph=87
|cruise speed kts=
|never exceed speed kmh=
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|range km=
|range miles=683
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|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=15910
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|time to altitude=
- 4 min to {{convert|3280|ft|m|disp=flip|abbr=on}}
- 16 min to {{convert|9480|ft|m|disp=flip|abbr=on}}
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See also
{{Commons category|Loire 501}}
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References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Bousquet |first=Gérard |title=French Flying Boats of WW II |year=2013 |location=Sandomierz, Poland |publisher=Stratus |isbn=978-83-63678-06-7}}
- {{cite book |last=Green |first=William |title=War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Five, Flying Boats |year=1968 |location=London |publisher=Macdonald |isbn=0-356-01449-5}}
- {{cite magazine|last1=Leyvastre|first1=Pierre|title=Un canot-major volant: Loire 501|magazine=Le album de fanatique de l'Aviation |date=April 1970|issue=10|pages=7–9|issn=0757-4169|language=fr|trans-title=A Big Flying Canoe: Loire 501}}
{{Loire aircraft}}
Category:1930s French military reconnaissance aircraft
Category:Single-engined pusher aircraft