Blériot-SPAD S.51

S.51

Role	Fighter
Manufacturer	Blériot
Designer	André Herbemont
First flight	16 June 1924
Primary users	Polish Air Force Turkish Air Force Soviet Air Force
Number built	ca. 60

The Bleriot-SPAD S.51 was a French fighter aircraft developed in 1924 in response to a French Air Force requirement for an aircraft to replace their obsolete Nieuport-Delage NiD.29s.^[1]

Design and development

Designed by André Herbemont, the S.51 shared its basic configuration with his other aircraft of the period, being a biplane with a swept upper wing and unswept lower wing, joined by I-shaped interplane struts. Unlike earlier designs, the S.51 used metal construction for the wings.

The prototype S.51 was rejected by the French authorities, but revised versions found export customers in the Polish Air Force, which bought 50 of them, and the Turkish and Soviet air forces which each bought a single example. Another development, the S.51/3 was experimentally fitted with the first controllable-pitch propeller developed in France, also designed by Herbemont.^[2]

Variants

S.51/1: Prototype for French evaluation, 1x 280 kW (380 hp) Gnome et Rhône 9Aa radial engine.
S.51/2: Refined version exported to Poland, 1x 310 kW (420 hp) Gnome et Rhône 9Ab radial engine.
S.51/3: Prototype with variable-pitch propeller.
S.51/4: Export version for Turkey and the USSR with two extra machine guns in the wings.

Operators

Poland

Polish Air Force
- 11th (Kościuszko) Squadron

Soviet Union

Soviet Air Force – One aircraft, used for tests and trials.

Spain

Spanish Republican Air Force^[3]

Turkey

Turkish Air Force

Specifications (S.51/2)

General characteristics

Crew: one pilot
Length: 6.45 m (21 ft 2 in)
Wingspan: 9.47 m (31 ft 1 in)
Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)
Wing area: 24.0 m² (258 ft²)
Empty weight: 990 kg (2,182 lb)
Gross weight: 1,360 kg (2,998 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Gnome et Rhône 9Aa radial engine, 313 kW (420 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 230 km/h (143 mph)
Service ceiling: 9,000 m (29,530 ft)
Rate of climb: 7.2 m/s (1,425 ft/min)

Armament

2 × fixed, forward-firing .303 Vickers machine guns

References

↑ World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp. File 890 Sheet 42.
↑ Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 164.
↑ Aircraft that took part in the Spanish Civil War

External links

Media related to SPAD at Wikimedia Commons
SPAD S-XX - aviafrance.com

SPAD and Blériot-SPAD aircraft

SPAD aircraft	S.A-1, 2, 3 & 4 S.C S.D S.E S.F S.G S.H S.V S.VII S.XI S.XII S.XIII S.XIV S.XV S.XVI S.XVII S.XX

Blériot-SPAD aircraft	S.20 S.26 S.27 S.29 S.30 S.33 S.34 S.41 S.42 S.45 S.46 S.48 S.50 S.51 S.54 S.56 S.58 S.61 S.66 S.70 S.81 S.86 S.91 S.116 S.126 S.510 S.710

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