Potez 34
{{Short description|French aircraft}}
{{Refimprove|date=March 2019}}
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
| name=Potez 34 | image=Potez 34 L'Aéronautique July,1929.jpg | caption= }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type=Record breaking aircraft | national origin=France | manufacturer=Henry Potez | designer= | first flight=25 May 1928 | introduced= | retired= | status= | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built=1 | program cost= | unit cost= | developed from=Potez 28 | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Potez 34 was a recording breaking aircraft, designed and built in France in the late 1920s. Only one was completed.
Design and development
The Potez 34 was built by Aéroplanes Henry Potez and was derived from the Potez 28M and used the Ryan NYP's blind flying / periscope configuration.{{cite web|url=http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_F-15.htm|page=6|title=Civil Aircraft Register - France, identification F-AJHU, 01, declared by H. Potez on 14.09.29, deleted from records in November 1931|website=Goldenyears.ukf.net|accessdate=1 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930035516/http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_F-15.htm|archive-date=30 September 2012|url-status=dead}}
Intended to win the distance record in closed circuit and then in a straight line, the first record attempts of the Potez 34 were punctuated by tyre punctures and oil leaks. Modifications were made including the exchange of the Farman engine with a lighter Hispano-Suiza and the adoption of a metal propeller. On 18 June 1929, the French distance in closed circuit record was beaten over a course of {{cvt|6517|km}} flown by Lionel de Marmier and Louis Favreau, but the world record could not be broken due to a technical failure.{{cite web|url=http://chezpeps.free.fr/henri/html/homme3.htm|title=Alexandre BAILE PIVOT DELAUNAY FAVREAU|website=Chezpeps.free.fr|accessdate=1 March 2019|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192416/http://chezpeps.free.fr/henri/html/homme3.htm|url-status=live}} On 25 June 1929, the same crew attempted to break the distance record in a straight line, flying to the Far East, but propeller vibrations necessitated a landing in Tunisia and the failure of the attempt.
The Potez 34 was lent by the Ministere de l'Air to Joseph Le Brix, assisted by Maurice Rossi, for a flight from Paris to Saigon, with three stops at Benghazi, Basra and Allahabad. The attempt began 16 December 1929 and a breakdown occurred over Burma on the night of 22 to 23 December 1929, the aircraft crashed into the jungle but the crew parachuted to safety.[http://fandavion.free.fr/Codos%20Paul%20and%20Maurice%20Rossi.htm] {{dead link|date=March 2019}}
Variations
;34.1: Farman Engine 12 We
;34.2: Hispano-Suiza engine 12 Lbr
Users
- {{FRA}}
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
|prime units?=met
|crew=Two
|length m=11.50
|span m=18.30
|height m=3.91
|wing area sqm=61
|aspect ratio=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=1900
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=5920
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity={{convert|350|L|Impgal USgal|abbr=on|0}} in wing tanks.
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Hispano-Suiza 12Lbr
|eng1 type=liquid cooled V-12
|eng1 hp=600
|eng1 note=
|power original=
|more power=
|prop blade number=2
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop dia note=
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=242
|max speed note=at sea level
|cruise speed kmh=150
|stall speed kmh=
|stall speed mph=
|stall speed kts=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed kts=
|never exceed speed note=
|range km=
|range miles=
|range nmi=
|range note=
|ferry range km=6700
|endurance=
|ceiling m=4500
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|climb rate ms=
|time to altitude=
|wing loading kg/m2=
|more performance=
}}
References
{{Commons category}}
{{reflist}}
{{Potez aircraft}}
Category:1920s French experimental aircraft