Potez 230

History of the Potez 230

Before the start of World War II (1939-1945), the French nation made some progress in trying to provide modern battlefield solutions - although many of these developments were too late to be used to defend the country. The commitment Including the Potez 230, a single-seat, single-engine, light monoplane fighter designed to have very modern qualities, including an enclosed cockpit, metal fairing, low-mounted elliptical wing shape and retractable landing gear. The design work made good progress, but the German conquest of France abruptly ended its future value.

The plane was captured by the enemy and returned to Germany, where it was extensively inspected and eventually disposed of. Only one prototype was completed.

Shortly before the war, the Potez group was allowed to continue as a brand, although it was incorporated into the French company Nord Aviation (SNCAN), which also claimed ANF-Mureaux in 1937. At that time, work was underway on another light fighter ANF-Mureaux 190 model, from which a similar product was developed - the Potez 230.

Engineers opted for elliptical wing plans that were popular at the time - such as the classic British Supermarine Spitfire. The fuselage is nicely streamlined with a front propeller spinner and conical tail.

The fin combines traditional fin surfaces, including a single vertical fin and a low-mounted horizontal plane. The landing gear has a "trail" arrangement, with the two main legs tucked under the root of the wing and a small tail wheel under the tail. The main-wing aircraft is mounted amidships, and the cockpit is located amidships. The pilot sits under a heavy-frame canopy, with rearward visibility blocked by the raised fuselage spine.

The only armament proposed in the final design is the inclusion of a 20mm Hispano-Suiza HS. 404 series cannon in the engine block, fired through the propeller hub, with two 7.5mm MAC 1934 machine guns mounted on each wing element.

Power will be provided by a 670-horsepower Hispano-Suiza 12Xcrs V12 inline liquid-cooled engine.

After the prototype was completed, the first flight was recorded on March 30, 1940, when World War II had begun (the Germans had invaded Poland as early as September 1939). The design offers a top speed of nearly 350 mph when operating at 16,400 feet and lists a 1.5-hour mission duration window.

Its handling is solid and the design seems promising. Of particular note is the one-piece wing torque box, the first of its kind to be installed on an aircraft.

However, the German invasion of France in May 1940 invalidated all future achievements of the product - when Villacoublay fell into the hands of the invaders, so did the only prototype, which was quickly taken over and sent back to Germany, And dissected its value thereinterest focused on the design of the wing torsion box.

The

Potez 230 prototype did not survive the war, ending its life as a footnote in WWII aviation history.

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