Amiot 354

Amiot 354

Infobox Aircraft
name= 354


caption=Amiot 351 1/72 scale model by Johan De Wolf
type= Bomber
manufacturer= Amiot
designer=
first flight=
introduced=1940
retired=
status=
primary user= Armée de l'Air
more users=
produced=
number built=
variants with their own articles=
The Amiot 354 was the latest in a series of fast, twin-engined bombers which fought with the Armée de l'Air in limited numbers during the Battle of France.

Development

The Amiot 350 series originated in the same 1934 requirement as its rival the Lioré et Olivier LeO 451. Derived from the Amiot 341 mail-carrier, the Amiot 340 prototype was involved in a propaganda misinformation flight to Berlin in August of 1938 to convince the Germans that the French employed modern bombers. Though 130 machines were ordered by the French government that year, production delays and ordered modifications ensured that September 1939 saw no delivered aircraft. Eventually, the ordered number of this very modern aircraft reached 830, though ultimately only eighty machines were received by the Air Ministry. The main variant was the twin-tailed 351, however, due to various delays the single-tailed 354 was accepted into service as an interim type.

The Amiot 351 was planned to mount 1 x 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine gun in nose and ventral positions and 1x 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon in the dorsal position. Due to various technical issues with the armament installation, many aircraft went to operational units with only a single light machine gun in the dorsal position.

Operational history

In May 1940, the Amiot 351/354 was in the process of equipping just two bomber groupes: GB 1/21 and GB II/21 based at Avignon. Though 200 were in the final stages of construction, only 35 were ready for flight. This situation was exacerbated by the fact that the Amiot 351/354 was constructed in three separate factories, two of which were later bombed by the Germans. On May 16, 1940, the several Amiot 351/354 carried out armed reconnaissance missions over Maastricht in the Netherlands - the first combat mission conducted by planes of this type.

By June, the Amiot 351/354 was also delivered for GB I/34 and GB II/34, neither ever flying them in combat. At that time, all Amiot 351/354 were based on the northern front. Three had been lost in combat, 10 in training accidents. All aircraft were ordered to evacuate to Africa on June 17, 37 surviving the trip. As their numbers were too few to effectively engage the Italians, they planes were sent back to Metropolitan France and their groupes disbanded in August 1940.

Five Amiot 351/354 continued to be used as a mail carriers after the Battle of France. Four Amiot 351/354 were commandeered by the Luftwaffe as transports, two found service in the 1./KG200 special service geschwader.

Engines taken for use with the Messerschmitt Me 323.

Variants

* Amiot 340.01: 2x 920 hp (686 kW) Gnome-et-Rhône 14P, single tail prototype (1)
* Amiot 351.01: Amiot 351 prototype.
* Amiot 351: 2x 950 hp (707 kW) Gnome-Rhône 14N 38/39, twin tail (17)(This number may be low)
* Amiot 350: 351 re-engined with 2x 920 hp (686 kW) Hispano-Suiza 12Y 28/29 engines (1)
* Amiot 352: 351 re-engined with 2x 1100 hp (820 kW) Hispano-Suiza 12Y 50/51 engines (1)
* Amiot 353: 351 re-engined with 2x 1030 hp (768 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin III engines (1)
* Amiot 354: single-tail variant, 2x 1070 hp (798 kW) Gnome-et-Rhône 14N 48/49 (45) (This number is probably low)
* Amiot 355.01: 351 re-engined with 2x 1200 hp (895 kW) Gnome-et-Rhone 14R 2/3 engines (1)
* Amiot 356.01: 354 re-engined with 2x 1130 hp (842 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines (1)
* Amiot 357: high altitude prototype with pressurized cabin, 2x 1200 hp (895 kW) Hispano-Suiza 12Z 89 turbocharged engines (1)
* Amiot 358: 351 re-engined post-war with 2x 1200 hp (895 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines (1)
* Amiot 370: single-tail racer with 2x 860 hp (642 kW) Hispano-Suiza 12Yjrs/Ykrs engines, developed specifically for (later cancelled) Paris-New York race (1)

The Amiot 351/354 saw service with the Armée de l'Air (80?)

Total production (including prototypes): (86?)

Operators

; FRA:Armee de l'Air; flag|Germany|Nazi:Luftwaffe

pecifications (354)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?= plane
jet or prop?= prop
crew= Four (pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier)
capacity=
length main= 14.5 m
length alt= 37 ft 7 in
span main= 22.75 m
span alt= 74 ft 11 in
height main= 4.06 m
height alt= 13 ft 5 in
area main= 67 m²
area alt= 721 ft²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 4,270 kg
empty weight alt= 9,390 lb
loaded weight main= 11,285 kg
loaded weight alt= 24,827 lb
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=
engine (prop)=Gnome-Rhône 14N48/49
type of prop= 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine
number of props=2
power main= 780 kW
power alt= 1,044 hp
power original=
max speed main= 480 km/h
max speed alt= 260 knots, 300 mph
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main= 3,500 km
range alt= 1,890 nm, 2,100 mi
ceiling main= 10,000 m
ceiling alt= 33,000 ft
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=
* 3 × 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine guns or 2 × 7.5 mm MAC 1934 machine guns and 1 × 20 mm cannon
* 800-1,250 kg (1,760-2,750 lb) of bombs
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
similar aircraft=
* Dornier Do 17
* Douglas DB-7
* Martin Maryland
sequence=
lists=
* List of aircraft of the Armée de l'Air, World War II
* List of bomber aircraft
see also=

References

*Breffort, Dominique & Jouineau, André. "French Aircraft from 1939 to 1942"
*Weal, Elke C., Weal, John A., Barker, Richard F. "Combat Aircraft of World War Two"


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Amiot 354 — Amiot 351 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Amiot 354 — Constructeur …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Amiot 340 — Amiot 354 Amiot 354 Constructeur …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Amiot 351 — Amiot 354 Amiot 354 Constructeur …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Amiot 353 — Amiot 354 Amiot 354 Constructeur …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Amiot 355 — Amiot 354 Amiot 354 Constructeur …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Amiot 356 — Amiot 354 Amiot 354 Constructeur …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Amiot 357 — Amiot 354 Amiot 354 Constructeur …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Amiot 358 — Amiot 354 Amiot 354 Constructeur …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Amiot 370 — Amiot 354 Amiot 354 Constructeur …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”