Potez 452

Potez 452
Role	Naval reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	Potez
First flight	1935
Introduction	1936
Retired	1944
Status	Retired
Primary user	French Navy (Battleship Lorraine)
Number built	16

The Potez 452 was a French flying boat designed and built by the French aircraft company Potez in response to a French Navy specification for a shipboard reconnaissance machine for use on its battleships and cruisers.

Design

The design requirements included the ability for launch by a catapult or from the sea. In addition, the wings were required to fold to simplify storage aboard ship. It first flew in 1935, and after satisfactory flight trials, it began equipping French ships a year later. Only sixteen Potez 452s were built. The Spanish Navy also expressed interest, which resulted in Spain acquiring a manufacturing license.^[1] Spain built no aircraft.

Opeartional history

The Potez 452 remained active as a reconnaissance aircraft during the early months of World War II. During these early months, there was no significant naval action in the Mediterranean. The warships upon which 452s served saw no real combat against German forces. After the French capitulation to Germany in June 1940, these aircraft continued to serve on their ships and ironically were briefly engaged against their former ally Great Britain. Other Potez 452s were deployed to French colonies in French Indochina, which included reconnaissance duty in a short conflict between these Vichy French controlled colonies and Thailand, a little remembered side event of World War II. These machines remained in service until 1944, by that time all had been retired or destroyed. A single Potez 452 was supplied to the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service for evaluation, as the Potez HXP1, in 1937.

Variants

Potez 450: Prototype flying-boat with a 170 kW (230 hp) Salmson 9Ab engine, one built
Potez 452: Production variant with a 260 kW (350 hp) Hispano-Suiza 9Qd engine, 48 built.
Potez 453: Floatplane fighter derived from the 452, powered by a 540 kW (720 hp) Hispano-Suiza 14Hbs. A single prototype was built, first flown on 24 September 1935.

Operators

France

French Navy

Specifications (Potez 452)

Data from War Planes of the Second World War:Volume Five Flying Boats ^[2]

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Length: 10.23 m (33 ft 6¾ in)
Wingspan: 13.00 m (42 feet 7⅝ inches)
Height: 3.40 m (11 feet 1⅞ inches)
Wing area: 24.3 m² (261.6 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,104 kg (2,429 pounds)
Loaded weight: 1,620 kg (3,571 pounds, catapult)
Powerplant: 1 × Hispano-Suiza 9Qd, 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 260 kW (350 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 217 km/h (117 knots, 135 mph) at 2,000 m (6,560 ft)
Endurance: 5 hr 10 min
Service ceiling: 5,500 m (18,040 ft)
Climb to 2,000 m (6,560 ft): 7 min 15 sec

Armament

Guns: One 7.5 mm (0.295 inch) machine gun mounted in flexible position in rear cockpit

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Potez.

Notes

↑ http://www.letletlet-warplanes.com/2008/07/05/french-flying-boats-and-amphibians/
↑ Green 1968, p. 41.

Bibliography

Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Five Flying Boats. London:Macdonald, 1968. ISBN 0-356-01449-5.

Aircraft produced by Potez and Potez-CAMS

Potez	VII VIII IX X XI XII XV XVII XVIII XIX XXII 25 26 27 28 29 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 43 45 49 50 501 506 51 53 54 56 58 60 62 63 65 661 662 67 220 230 75 84 91 94

Potez-CAMS	141 160 161

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