Bréguet 19

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Br%C3%A9guet_19

The Breguet 19 (Breguet XIX, Br.19 or Bre.19) was a light bomber and
reconnaissance aircraft, also used for long-distance flights, designed by the
French Breguet company and produced from 1924.

The Breguet 19 was designed as a successor to a highly successful World War I
light bomber, the 14. Initially, it was designed to be powered by a 340 kW (450
hp) Bugatti U-16 engine, driving a four-blade propeller, and such a prototype
was shown on the 7th Paris Air Show in November 1921. A new design was flown in
March 1922, featuring a conventional layout with a single 340 kW (450 hp)
Renault 12Kb inline engine. The aircraft was built in a sesquiplane platform,
with lower wings substantially smaller than the upper ones. After trials, the
Breguet 19 was ordered by the French Army's Aéronautique Militaire in September
1923.

The first 11 Breguet 19 prototypes were powered by a number of different
engines. A "trademark" of Breguet was the wide usage of duralumin as a
construction material, instead of steel or wood. At that time, the aircraft was
faster than other bombers, and even some fighter aircraft. Therefore, it met
with a huge interest in the world, strengthened by its sporting successes. Mass
production, for the Aéronautique Militaire and export, started in France in
1924.

The Breguet 19 was a biplane (sesquiplane), conventional in layout, with braced
wings. The fuselage, ellipsoid in cross-section, was a frame of duralumin pipes.
The front part was covered with duralumin sheets, the tail with canvas. The
wings were canvas covered. It had a conventional fixed landing gear with rear
skid. The crew of two, pilot and observer/bombardier, sat in tandem in open
cockpits, with dual controls.

A wide variety of engine types were fitted, mostly water-cooled V-12 or W-12
inline engines.

A fixed 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Vickers machine gun with an interrupter gear was
operated by the pilot, while the observer had twin 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Lewis Guns.
There was also a fourth machine gun, which could be fired by the observer
downwards through an opening in the floor. The Br.19CN2 night fighter variant
was fitted with two pilot's machine guns. The bomber variant could carry up to
472 kg (1,041 lb) of bombs under the fuselage, or in a vertical bomb bay (small
bombs up to 50 kg (110 lb)). The reconnaissance variant could carry 12x 10 kg
(22 lb) bombs. The reconnaissance variant had a camera mounting, which was
optional on the bomber variant. All variants had radio.


Role
Light bomber/reconnaissance aircraft

Manufacturer
Breguet Aviation

Designer
Marcel Vuillerme

First flight
March 1922

Primary user
French Air Force

Number built
~ 2,700

The Breguet had its baptism of fire in the Spanish Civil War.

Greece

In the Greco-Italian War of World War II, 18 Breguets were on line at the
outbreak of war, with 1 Observation (or Army Cooperation) Mira, under I Corp
Command, based at Perigiali, near Corinth and with 2 Observation Mira under II
Corps command, based at Larissa and Kozani. On 4 November 1940, a RHAF (Royal
Hellenic Air Force) Breguet from 2 Mira was sent looking for the attacking 3rd
Julia Alpine Division, locating it in a mountain pass near Metsovo. Three more
Breguets sent to bomb the Italian division were in turn attacked by three Fiat
CR.42 fighters. A Breguet was shot down, one crash-landed and the third returned
to base, though badly shot up.

Record variants

Both standard and modified Breguet 19s were used for numerous record-breaking
flights. The first was the Br.19 prototype, which won a military aircraft speed
contest in Madrid on 17 February 1923. On 12 March 1923, it also set an
international altitude record of 5,992 m (19,659 ft) carrying a 500 kg (1,100
lb) load. It was later bought by the Spanish government.

Many crews made long-distance flights in Br.19s. In February 1925, Thieffry flew
from Brussels to Leopoldville in central Africa, a distance of 8,900 km (5,500
mi). Two Br.19 A2s were bought by the Japanese Asahi Shimbun newspaper and
fitted with additional fuel tanks. They were flown by H. Abe and K. Kawachi on
the Tokyo-Paris-London route in July 1925, covering 13,800 km (8,600 mi).
Between 27 August and 25 September 1926, the Polish crew of Boleslaw Orlinski
flew the Warsaw-Tokyo route (10,300 km (6,400 mi)) and back, in a modified Br.19
A2, despite the fact that one of its lower wings was broken on the way. On June
8, 1928 a modified Greek Br.A2 ("????S"), flown by C. Adamides and E. Papadakos,
embarked on a long distance tour around the Mediterranean landing without
incident at Tatoi airfield, Athens, on July 1st. Between 1927 and 1930,
Romanian, Yugoslavian and Polish Br.19s were often used in Little Entente air
races.

Breguet 19 GRs and TRs set several world records, mostly of long-distance
non-stop flights, starting with Arrachart and Lemaitre's 3,166 km (1,967 mi)
flight from Paris to Villa Cisneros in 24½ hours on 2–3 February 1925. On 14–15
July 1926, Girier and Dordilly set a new record of 4,716 km (2,930 mi) between
Paris and Omsk, beaten on 31 August-1 September by Challe and Weiser's 5,174 km
(3,215 mi), and on 28 October by Dieudonne Costes and Rignot's 5,450 km (3,390
mi). From 10 October 1927 – 14 April 1928, Costes and Le Brix flew a Br.19 GR
(named Nungesser-Coli) around the world, covering 57,000 km (35,000 mi) - though
the journey between San Francisco and Tokyo was taken by ship.

The Super Bidon was created especially for the purpose of a transatlantic
flight. It was named Point d'Interrogation ("The Question Mark"). Dieudonne
Costes and Maurice Bellonte set a non-stop distance record of 7,905 km (4,912
mi) from Paris to Moullart on 27–29 September 1929 on this aircraft. Then on 1–2
September 1930, they flew from Paris to New York City, a distance of 6,200 km
(3,900 mi) making the first non-stop east-west crossing of the North Atlantic by
a fixed-wing aircraft. The second Super Bidon, the Spanish Cuatro Vientos,
vanished over Mexico with M. Barberan and J. Collar Serra, after a transatlantic
flight from Seville to Cuba on 10–11 June 1933.

Specifications (Br 19 A.2)

General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 9.61 m (31 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 14.83 m (48 ft 8 in)
Height: 3.69 m (12 ft 1 in)
Wing area: 50 m2 (540 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,387 kg (3,058 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 2,500 kg (5,512 lb)
Fuel capacity: 365 l (96 US gal; 80 imp gal)
Powerplant: 1 × Lorraine 12Ed Courlis W-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 340 kW
(450 hp)

Performance
Maximum speed: 214 km/h (133 mph; 116 kn)
Range: 800 km (497 mi; 432 nmi)
Service ceiling: 7,200 m (23,600 ft)

Armament

Guns: 1 × fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm (0.30 in) Vickers machine gun, and two
flexible, rearward-firing 7.7 mm (0.30 in) Lewis Guns.
Bombs: Provision for light bombs.





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