Amiot 143
Encyclopedia
The Amiot 143M was a late 1930s French
medium bomber
designed to meet 1928 specifications for a bomber
capable of day/night bombing, long-range reconnaissance
and bomber escort.
received an order for two prototype
Amiot 140s, to be evaluated against the competing Bleriot 137, Breguet 410 and SPCA 30. The Amiot 140 was a high-winged cantilever monoplane
of all-metal construction, with corrugated wing skinning and a fixed tail wheel undercarriage. The pilot sat in an open cockpit, with separate cockpits for gunners in the nose and dorsal positions. A glazed gondola under the forward fuselage carried a bombardier
/gunner, ensuring that the gunners had a clear field of fire all around the aircraft. The Amiot was intended to be powered by two 515 kW (690 hp) Lorraine-Dietrich
18 Orion water-cooled W engine
s, but these were unavailable, and the first prototype was fitted with Hispano-Suiza 12NBr engines to allow flight testing, making its maiden flight on 12 April 1931. The second prototype was completed in February 1932, but the continued non-availability of its intended engines, either the original Lorraine-Dietrichs or turbocharged Hispano-Suizas, meant that it never flew. Despite this, on 23 November 1933 an order was placed for 40 Amiot 140s, to be powered by 662 kW (880 hp) Lorraine 12Q engines.
The French Air Ministry had meanwhile revised its requirements, requiring better performance and better bombing capability, and Amiot redesigned the aircraft to meet these requirements and incorporate lessons learned during testing of the Amiot 140. The gondola under the fuselage was enlarged, allowing easier operation of the aircraft's guns, and allowing a fifth crew member (a radio-operator) to be carried. Manually operated gun turrets were provided in the nose and dorsal positions. Orders were placed for two prototypes, differing only in the engines fitted, with the Amiot 142 having Hispano-Suiza 12Y
engines and the Amiot 143 having Gnome-Rhone 14K radial engine
s. The 143 flew first, on 1 August 1934, with the 142 not flying until January 1935. As it was decided to allocate the Hispano-Suiza engines to fighters, the Amiot 143 was selected, the existing order for 40 Amiot 140s being converted to 143s.
The Amiot 143 had the same high-winged, fixed undercarriage layout as the Amiot 140, with the wing thick enough to allow the crew to access the engines in flight using a tunnel between the wing spars. The pilot sat in an enclosed cockpit level with the leading edge of the wing, and the navigator/bombardier, who was also provided with flying controls, sat in the extensively glazed gondola beneath the pilot. The radio operator sat towards the rear of the gondola, and in early aircraft also operated two 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Lewis gun
s. Nose and dorsal turrets
, each carrying a single Lewis gun, completed the defensive armament, while the gondola also housed an internal bomb-bay. After 40 aircraft had been completed, the design was revised, with the aircraft being fitted with a longer nose (increasing overall length from 17.94 m (58 ft 10 in) to 18.24 m (59 ft 10 in), a revised fuel system, and with the Lewis guns in the nose and dorsal turrets and the ventral position replaced by single 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934
machine gun
s, with a fourth gun used by the navigator/bombadier firing through a hatch in the floor.
Deliveries of the aging design eventually began in April 1935, continuing until March 1937, with a total of 138 being built. An improved version, the Amiot 144 was built designed to meet 1933 requirement for a Multiplace de Combat, combining the same fuselage and a similar wing with a retractable undercarriage. First flying on 18 January 1936, only one was built.
Despite being of an ungainly two-tiered structure, slow and lacking maneuverability, and of obsolescent architecture, the Amiot 143M was a sturdy plane which was popular with its pilots.
. Nevertheless at the outbreak of the Second World War, Amiot 143s equipped 5 metropolitan groupes together with a single African based groupe.
During the Phoney War, Amiot 143M groupes carried out reconnaissance and leaflet raids over Germany. 87 Amiot 143M remained in front line service on 10 May 1940, 50 equipping four metropolitan groupes: GBs I/34 and II/34 in the north, GBs I/38 and II/38 in the East, and 17 equipping one African groupe, GB II/63, which was in the process of re-equipping with Martin 167F
s. Following the start of the Battle of France
, the Amiot 143M was mainly used in night attacks against German airfields and lines of communications, with losses relatively low. One notable exception was a daylight raid by 10 Amiots from GBs I/34, II/34, and II/38 led by Commandant de Laubier against German bridgeheads near Sedan on 14 May 1940. Despite fighter escort, two Amiots were shot down while a third force-landed before reaching its base.
By the time of the Armistice, the Amiot 143M had dropped a total of 474 tonnes (523 tons) of bombs. 52 Amiot 143Ms were in the Unoccupied Zone and 25 were in French North Africa. They were reorganized into GBs I/38 and II/38 and were used until July 1941 when they were replaced by LeO 451 bombers.
Some planes of the II/38 served as a transports for the French in Syria. This groupe later went over to the Allied side after their landings in Africa. The last Amiot 143M was retired from service in February 1944.
A few Amiot 143M are reported to have been commandeered by the Germans and used as transports. Only 11 planes were left in the Unoccupied Zone when it was occupied by the Germans in 1943, and only three were flightworthy.
Had the war gone on a little longer for France, it is likely that all of the Amiot 143M would have ended up in a training
role, having been replaced by more modern bombers such as the Breguet 693
. The obsolete plane was never intended to have such an important role come war time, but slow French production made its use necessary - often being pulled from training squadrons to shore up bomber groupes.
Amiot 141
Amiot 142
Amiot 143
Amiot 144
Amiot 145
Amiot 146
Amiot 147
Amiot 150
Independent State of Croatia
Germany
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
medium bomber
Medium bomber
A medium bomber is a bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium bombloads over medium distances; the name serves to distinguish them from the larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers...
designed to meet 1928 specifications for a bomber
Bomber
A bomber is a military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets, by dropping bombs on them, or – in recent years – by launching cruise missiles at them.-Classifications of bombers:...
capable of day/night bombing, long-range reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance
Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance that is conducted using unmanned aerial vehicles or reconnaissance aircraft. Their roles are to collect imagery intelligence, signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence...
and bomber escort.
Design and development
In 1928, the French Air Ministry issued a specification for a four-seat Multiplace de Combat, a multi-seat combat aircraft to act as a bomber, reconnaissance aircraft and long-range escort fighter. AmiotAvions Amiot
Avions Amiot was a former French aircraft manufacturer. The company was formed in 1916 by Félix Amiot as the Society of Mechanical Drawing and Construction ....
received an order for two prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
Amiot 140s, to be evaluated against the competing Bleriot 137, Breguet 410 and SPCA 30. The Amiot 140 was a high-winged cantilever monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
of all-metal construction, with corrugated wing skinning and a fixed tail wheel undercarriage. The pilot sat in an open cockpit, with separate cockpits for gunners in the nose and dorsal positions. A glazed gondola under the forward fuselage carried a bombardier
Bombardier (air force)
A bombardier , in the United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force, or a bomb aimer, in the Royal Air Force and other Commonwealth air forces, was the crewman of a bomber responsible for assisting the navigator in guiding the plane to a bombing target and releasing the aircraft's bomb...
/gunner, ensuring that the gunners had a clear field of fire all around the aircraft. The Amiot was intended to be powered by two 515 kW (690 hp) Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich
Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie branched into the manufacture of automobiles...
18 Orion water-cooled W engine
W engine
A W engine is a type of reciprocating engine arranged with its cylinders in a configuration in which the cylinder banks resemble the letter W, in the same way those of a V engine resemble the letter V....
s, but these were unavailable, and the first prototype was fitted with Hispano-Suiza 12NBr engines to allow flight testing, making its maiden flight on 12 April 1931. The second prototype was completed in February 1932, but the continued non-availability of its intended engines, either the original Lorraine-Dietrichs or turbocharged Hispano-Suizas, meant that it never flew. Despite this, on 23 November 1933 an order was placed for 40 Amiot 140s, to be powered by 662 kW (880 hp) Lorraine 12Q engines.
The French Air Ministry had meanwhile revised its requirements, requiring better performance and better bombing capability, and Amiot redesigned the aircraft to meet these requirements and incorporate lessons learned during testing of the Amiot 140. The gondola under the fuselage was enlarged, allowing easier operation of the aircraft's guns, and allowing a fifth crew member (a radio-operator) to be carried. Manually operated gun turrets were provided in the nose and dorsal positions. Orders were placed for two prototypes, differing only in the engines fitted, with the Amiot 142 having Hispano-Suiza 12Y
Hispano-Suiza 12Y
The Hispano-Suiza 12Y was a French aircraft engine in the pre-WWII era. Developed from the earlier, and somewhat smaller, 12X, the 12Y became the primary 1,000 hp class engine and was used in a number of famous aircraft, including the Morane-Saulnier M.S.406 and Dewoitine D.520...
engines and the Amiot 143 having Gnome-Rhone 14K radial engine
Radial engine
The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
s. The 143 flew first, on 1 August 1934, with the 142 not flying until January 1935. As it was decided to allocate the Hispano-Suiza engines to fighters, the Amiot 143 was selected, the existing order for 40 Amiot 140s being converted to 143s.
The Amiot 143 had the same high-winged, fixed undercarriage layout as the Amiot 140, with the wing thick enough to allow the crew to access the engines in flight using a tunnel between the wing spars. The pilot sat in an enclosed cockpit level with the leading edge of the wing, and the navigator/bombardier, who was also provided with flying controls, sat in the extensively glazed gondola beneath the pilot. The radio operator sat towards the rear of the gondola, and in early aircraft also operated two 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Lewis gun
Lewis Gun
The Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...
s. Nose and dorsal turrets
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
, each carrying a single Lewis gun, completed the defensive armament, while the gondola also housed an internal bomb-bay. After 40 aircraft had been completed, the design was revised, with the aircraft being fitted with a longer nose (increasing overall length from 17.94 m (58 ft 10 in) to 18.24 m (59 ft 10 in), a revised fuel system, and with the Lewis guns in the nose and dorsal turrets and the ventral position replaced by single 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934
MAC 1934
In 1934 the Manufacture d'Armes de Châtellerault completed the development of the MAC 1934 machine gun to replace the Darne mod. 1933 machine gun aboard aircraft of the Armée de l'Air...
machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s, with a fourth gun used by the navigator/bombadier firing through a hatch in the floor.
Deliveries of the aging design eventually began in April 1935, continuing until March 1937, with a total of 138 being built. An improved version, the Amiot 144 was built designed to meet 1933 requirement for a Multiplace de Combat, combining the same fuselage and a similar wing with a retractable undercarriage. First flying on 18 January 1936, only one was built.
Despite being of an ungainly two-tiered structure, slow and lacking maneuverability, and of obsolescent architecture, the Amiot 143M was a sturdy plane which was popular with its pilots.
Operational history
The Amiot 143M entered service in July 1935, with deliveries continuing through 1936 and 1937. By the time the last deliveries were made in March 1938, the Amiot was quite out of date, and began to be replaced by more modern aircraft such as the Bloch MB.131Bloch MB.131
|-See also:-References:* Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Seven Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft. London: Macdonald, 1967.-External links:*...
. Nevertheless at the outbreak of the Second World War, Amiot 143s equipped 5 metropolitan groupes together with a single African based groupe.
During the Phoney War, Amiot 143M groupes carried out reconnaissance and leaflet raids over Germany. 87 Amiot 143M remained in front line service on 10 May 1940, 50 equipping four metropolitan groupes: GBs I/34 and II/34 in the north, GBs I/38 and II/38 in the East, and 17 equipping one African groupe, GB II/63, which was in the process of re-equipping with Martin 167F
Martin Baltimore
The Martin 187 Baltimore was a two-engined light attack bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company in the United States, originally ordered by the French in May 1940 as a follow-up to the earlier Martin Maryland, then in service in France. With the fall of France, the production series was...
s. Following the start of the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, the Amiot 143M was mainly used in night attacks against German airfields and lines of communications, with losses relatively low. One notable exception was a daylight raid by 10 Amiots from GBs I/34, II/34, and II/38 led by Commandant de Laubier against German bridgeheads near Sedan on 14 May 1940. Despite fighter escort, two Amiots were shot down while a third force-landed before reaching its base.
By the time of the Armistice, the Amiot 143M had dropped a total of 474 tonnes (523 tons) of bombs. 52 Amiot 143Ms were in the Unoccupied Zone and 25 were in French North Africa. They were reorganized into GBs I/38 and II/38 and were used until July 1941 when they were replaced by LeO 451 bombers.
Some planes of the II/38 served as a transports for the French in Syria. This groupe later went over to the Allied side after their landings in Africa. The last Amiot 143M was retired from service in February 1944.
A few Amiot 143M are reported to have been commandeered by the Germans and used as transports. Only 11 planes were left in the Unoccupied Zone when it was occupied by the Germans in 1943, and only three were flightworthy.
Had the war gone on a little longer for France, it is likely that all of the Amiot 143M would have ended up in a training
Flight training
Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills....
role, having been replaced by more modern bombers such as the Breguet 693
Breguet 693
The Breguet 690 and its derivatives were a series of light twin-engine ground-attack aircraft that were used by the French Air Force in World War II....
. The obsolete plane was never intended to have such an important role come war time, but slow French production made its use necessary - often being pulled from training squadrons to shore up bomber groupes.
Variants
Amiot 140- Prototype with Hispano-Suiza 12Nbr inline engineInline engine (aviation)In aviation, an inline engine means any reciprocating engine with banks rather than rows of cylinders, including straight engines, flat engines, V engines and H engines, but excluding radial engines and rotary engines....
s. Two built, of which only one flown, followed by orders for 40 more produced as Amiot 143 instead.
Amiot 141
- revised design (unbuilt)
Amiot 142
- prototype with Hispano-Suiza 12Ybrs inlines (1 built)
Amiot 143
- production version with Gnome-Rhône 14Kirs / Gnome-Rhône 14Kjrs radial engineRadial engineThe radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel...
s (138 built, including 40 ordered as Amiot 140 and 25 ordered as Amiot 144)
Amiot 144
- version with reduced wing area, added flapFlap (aircraft)Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...
s and retractable undercarriageUndercarriageThe undercarriage or landing gear in aviation, is the structure that supports an aircraft on the ground and allows it to taxi, takeoff and land...
and no front turret (1 built, orders for 25 produced as Amiot 143 instead)
Amiot 145
- Amiot 144 with Hispano-Suiza 14AAHispano-Suiza 14AAThe Hispano-Suiza 14AA was a fourteen-cylinder aircraft radial engine used in France during the late 1930s. As Hispano-Suiza lacked recent experience in developing radial engines, it was derived from the licensed Wright R-2600 engine...
inlines (not built)
Amiot 146
- Amiot 144 with Gnome-Rhône 18Lars radials (not built)
Amiot 147
- Amiot 144 with Hispano-Suiza 12Ydrs / Hispano-Suiza 12Yfrs inlines (not built)
Amiot 150
- Reconnaissance, torpedo bomberTorpedo bomberA torpedo bomber is a bomber aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes which could also carry out conventional bombings. Torpedo bombers existed almost exclusively prior to and during World War II when they were an important element in many famous battles, notably the...
prototype, for use with the Aeronavale. Amiot 143 with 10% larger wing, interchangeable wheel or float landing gear, powered by two Gnome-Rhone radials (1 prototype built)
Operators
Independent State of Croatia
- Air Force of the Independent State of CroatiaAir Force of the Independent State of CroatiaThe Air Force of the Independent State of Croatia, the Zrakoplovstvo Nezavisne Države Hrvatske was the national air force of the Independent State of Croatia during World War II, founded under German authority in April 1941...
operated one.
- Armee de l'Air operated 138 aircraft.
Germany
- LuftwaffeLuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
operated few captured aircraft.
- Polish Air Forces on exile in FrancePolish Air Forces in France and Great BritainThe Polish Air Forces was a name of Polish Air Forces formed in France and the United Kingdom during World War II. The core of the Polish air units fighting alongside the allies were experienced veterans of Invasion of Poland of 1939 and they contributed to Allied victory in the Battle of Britain...
- Groupe de Bombardement Marche Polonais
Specifications (Amiot 143)
See also
External links
- "Trapdoor In War Plane Permits Chute Jumps" Popular Mechanics, May 1935 article-photo mid page left side