Caudron Simoun

Simoun
Preserved C.630 at Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace.
Role
Manufacturer	Caudron
Designer	Marcel Riffard
First flight	1934
Introduction	1935
Produced	1930s

The Caudron Simoun was a 1930s French four-seat touring monoplane. It was used as a mail plane by Air Bleu, flew record-setting long-range flights, and was also used as a liaison aircraft by the Armée de l'Air during World War II.

Variants

C.500 Simoun I

experimental, one built.

C.520 Simoun

experimental, one built.

C.620 Simoun IV

experimental, one built.

C.630 Simoun

initial production version with Renault Bengali 6Pri engine, 20 built.

C.631 Simoun

modified version with a Renault 6Q-01 engine, three built.

C.632 Simoun

similar to C.631, one built.

C.633 Simoun

modified fuselage with a Renault 6Q-07 engine, 6 built.

C.634 Simoun

modified wing and take-off weight with either a Renault 6Q-01 or Renault 6Q-09 engine, 3 built.

C.635 Simoun

improved cabin layout and either a Renault 6Q-01 or Renault 6Q-09 engine, 46 built and conversions from earlier versions.

C.635M Simoun

military version with either a Renault 6Q-09 or Renault 6Q-19 engine, 489 built.

Operators

 Belgium

• Belgian Air Force

 France

• Air Bleu
• Armée de l'Air
• Aeronavale

 Germany

• Luftwaffe (small numbers)^[1]

 Kingdom of Hungary

• Hungarian Air Force

 United Kingdom

• Royal Air Force
  • No. 267 Squadron RAF

 United States

• United States Navy

Specifications (C.630)

General characteristics

• Crew: 1-2: pilot and (optional) co-pilot
• Capacity: 2 passengers
• Length: 9.10 m (29 ft 10 in)
• Wingspan: 10.4 m (34 ft 2 in)
• Height: 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in)
• Wing area: 16 m² (170 ft²)
• Empty weight: 755 kg (1,660 lb)
• Max. takeoff weight: 1,380 kg (3,040 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Renault 6Q-09 six-cylinder inverted inline engine air-cooled piston engine, 220 hp (160 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 300 km/h (160 knots, 190 mph)
• Range: 1,500 km (810 nm, 930 mi)
• Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)

See also

• Antoine de Saint Exupéry's desert crash

Related lists

• List of Interwar military aircraft
• List of aircraft of World War II

Notes

1. Ketley, Barry, and Rolfe, Mark. Luftwaffe Fledglings 1935-1945: Luftwaffe Training Units and their Aircraft (Aldershot, GB: Hikoki Publications, 1996), p.11.

References

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.

External links

• Century of Flight - Caudron C.630 Simoun Sandstorm
• WebSite for l'Association Renaissance du Caudron Simoun