Bernard 70 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Bernard 70 was a 1920s design for a French

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...

single-seat monoplane fighter aircraft

Fighter aircraft

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...

by the Société des Avions Bernard

Société des Avions Bernard

Société des Avions Bernard was a French aircraft manufacturer of the early 20th century. It was founded in April 1917 by Adolphe Bernard as Etablissements Adolphe Bernard to licence-built SPAD fighters. Immediately after the war the company was reorganised as Société Industrielle des Métaux et du...

. It was not built but was developed into a racing monoplane designated the Bernard S-72, (later Bernard S-73). It was further developed into single-seat fighters, the Bernard 74 and Bernard 74, although only two of the fighters were built.

Design and development

The Bernard S-72 was a wooden stressed skin constructed cantilever low-wing monoplane powered by a Gnome-Rhône 5Bc radial engine and had a fixed tailskid landing gear

Conventional landing gear

thumb|The [[Piper PA-18|Piper Super Cub]] is a popular taildragger aircraft.thumb|right|A [[Cessna 150]] converted to taildragger configuration by installation of an after-market modification kit....

. Flown by Paillard the Bernard S-72 participated in the 1930 Coupe Michelin race. On 29 June he took off from Le Bourget, landed successively in Reims, Nancy, Strasbourg, Dijon and Clermont-Ferrand, but unfortunately had to retire near Lyon as a result of engine failure. The S-72 was re-engined with a Gnome-Rhône 7Kb and re-designated the Bernard S-73. The S-73 was then developed into the Bernard 74 single-seat fighter and retained the Titan-Major engine. Two prototypes were built with the first flying in February 1931, powered by a 280hp (kw) Gnome-Rhône 7Kbs radial engine, the second was fitted with a 360 hp Gnome-Rhône 7Kd engine and first flew in October 1931. The first prototype 74 was re-engined with a Gnome-Rhône 9K

Gnome-Rhône 9K

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brs radial engine and re-designated the Bernard 75 it was later used as a pilot-trainer. No further aircraft were built.

Variants

Bernard 70

Unbuilt design for a single-seat fighter.

Bernard S-72

Single-seater racing monoplane powered by a 240hp (179kw) Gnome-Rhône 5Bc radial engine, first flight in May 1930. Later converted to the Bernard S-73.

Bernard S-73

The Bernard 72 re-engined with a 300hp (224kw) Gnome-Rhône 7Kb radial engine, first flown in May 1930.

Bernard 74-01

Single-seat fighter variant, powered by a 280hp (209kw) Gnome-Rhône 7Kbs radial engine, later converted to the Bernard 75.

Bernard 74-02

A second prototype powered by a 360hp (268hp) Gnome-Rhône 7Kd, first flown on 21 October 1931

Bernard 75

Prototype Bernard 74-01 fighter re-engined with a 500hp (373kw) Gnome-Rhône 9Kbrs radial engine and later used as a pilot-trainer.

Specifications (Bernard 74.01)

External links

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