Sud-Ouest Bretagne

{{Short description|French short range airliner with 2 piston engines, 1945}}

{{Infobox aircraft

|name = S.O.30 Bretagne

|image = SO.30P Bretagne No.40 Aeronavale Palas jets BLA 09.55.jpg

|caption = SO.30P of the Aeronavale equipped with under-wing Palas auxiliary jets at Blackbushe Airport in 1955

|type = Airliner and military transport

|manufacturer = Sud-Ouest

|designer =

|first_flight = 26 February 1945

|introduction =

|retired =

|produced =

|number_built = 45

|status =

|unit cost =

|primary_user = Air France

|more_users = French Air Force

|developed_from =

|variants =

}}

The Sud-Ouest S.O.30 Bretagne was a 1940s French airliner built by Sud-Ouest.

Design and development

The Bretagne (Engl. "Brittany") was designed by a group of designers and engineers who were based at Cannes from May 1941 following the invasion of France. The design was for a medium capacity civil transport, a twin-engined mid-wing cantilever all-metal monoplane. The prototype (designated the S.O.30N) first flew on 26 February 1945.

Operational history

The initial production version was designated the S.O.30P Bretagne with two versions with different engines. The aircraft operated with a crew of five and could carry between 30 and 43 passengers. A cargo version (the S.O.30C) was produced, with a revised interior and strengthened floor and large cargo door. The aircraft was operated as an airliner, but mainly by the French military forces as a medium transport.

Some aircraft were fitted with two underwing Turbomeca Palas turbojet engines for auxiliary power. Other aircraft were used for engine-trials fitted with the SNECMA Atar 101 and licence-built Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets.

Variants

;S.O.30N: Tailwheel undercarriage prototype, c/n 01 built after the 1940 armistice and stored till after the war. The second S.O.30R c/n 02 was built in 1946 and later converted to the S.O.30 Nene, jet powered airliner test-bed.

;S.O.30R Bellatrix: Two prototypes of the nosewheel undercarriage production model.

;S.O.30C:cargo version, one built with belly loading hatches.

;S.O.30P-1:production version with Pratt & Whitney R-2800-B43 engines.

;S.O.30P-2:production version with Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CA13 engines.

;S.O.30 Nene:One aircraft converted from S.O.30R c/n 02 for use as a testbed, powered by two Rolls-Royce Nenes.

Operators

=Military operators=

;{{FRA}}

French Air ForceStroud 1966, p. 203.
French Navy

=Civil operators=

;{{ALG}}

Air AlgérieStroud 1966, p. 202.

;{{FRA}}

Aigle Azur
Air France
COSARA based in French Indo-ChinaStroud 1966, pp. 202–203.

;{{IRN}}

Iranian Airways

;{{MAR}}

Air Maroc

Specifications (S.O.30P-2)

{{Aircraft specs

|ref=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54,Bridgman 1953, pp. 152–153. French Post-War Transport AircraftChillon, Dubois & Wegg 1980, pp. 23–25

|prime units?=met

|crew= 4

|capacity= 43 passengers

|length m=18.95

|span m=26.9

|height m=5.9

|wing area sqm=86.2

|aspect ratio=

|airfoil=

|empty weight kg=14000

|gross weight kg=

|max takeoff weight kg=20250

|max takeoff weight note=

|fuel capacity=

|more general=

|eng1 number=2

|eng1 name=Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CA18

|eng1 type=18-cyl. air-cooled radial piston engines

|eng1 hp=2434

|eng1 note=for take-off with water injection

|eng2 number=2

|eng2 name=Turbomeca Palas

|eng2 type=

|eng2 kN=

|eng2 note=optional {{convert|1.47|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} turbojet booster engines under the outer wings

|prop blade number=4

|prop name=constant-speed fully feathering propellers

|prop dia m=

|prop dia ft=

|prop dia in=

|prop dia note=

|max speed kmh=575

|cruise speed kmh=438

|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=

|minimum control speed kmh=

|minimum control speed mph=

|minimum control speed kts=

|minimum control speed note=

|range km=2175

|ferry range km=

|ferry range miles=

|ferry range nmi=

|ferry range note=

|endurance=

|ceiling m=8000

|g limits=

|roll rate=

|climb rate ms=6

|time to altitude=

|wing loading kg/m2=

|wing loading lb/sqft=

|wing loading note=

|fuel consumption kg/km=

|fuel consumption lb/mi=

|power/mass=

|more performance=

|avionics=

}}

References

=Notes=

=Bibliography=

Bridgeman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54. London: Jane's All The World's Aircraft Publishing Company, 1953.
{{cite book |last1=Chillon |first1=Jacques |last2=Dubois |first2=Jean-Pierre |last3=Wegg |first3=John |title=French Post-War Transport Aircraft |date=1980 |publisher=Air-Britain |location=Tonbridge, UK |isbn=0-85130-078-2|name-list-style=amp}}
{{cite journal |last1=Gaillard|first1=Pierre|last2=Marchand|first2=Alain|title=Le SO 30P Bretagne: la carrière civile (fin)|journal=Le Fana de l'Aviation |date=June 1988 |issue=223 |pages=42–46 |issn=0757-4169 |language=fr|trans-title=The SO 30P: The Civilian Transport (End)|name-list-style=amp}}
{{cite journal |last1=Gaillard|first1=Pierre|last2=Marchand|first2=Alain|title=Le SO 30P Bretagne (3) |journal=Le Fana de l'Aviation |date=June 1990 |issue=247 |pages=34–38 |issn=0757-4169 |language=fr|trans-title=The SO 30P Bretagne (3): dans le Armée de l'Air |name-list-style=amp}}
Stroud, John. European Transport Aircraft since 1910. London: Putnam, 1966.