The Potez 661 was a four-engined metal low-wing 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:...

 airliner

Airliner

An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...

 developed in France

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...

 just before World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The single example flew with Air Afrique on French colonial routes.

Design and development

In 1936 the well-established Potez

Potez

Potez was a French aircraft manufacturer founded as Aéroplanes Henry Potez by Henry Potez at Aubervilliers in 1919. The firm began by refurbishing war-surplus SEA IV aircraft, but was soon building new examples of an improved version, the Potez VII...

 company became part of the Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautique du Nord (S.N.C.A.N.), under the Law for the Nationalisation of Military Industries. In 1937 they produced their first four-engined aircraft, the Type 661. This was a commercial machine with seating for up to twelve passengers. It was a low wing cantilever, almost all-metal monoplane. The wing tapered with a nearly straight trailing edge that carried outboard balanced ailerons and split trailing edge flaps over the whole of the centre section. The four 220 hp (164 kW) Renault 6-Q inverted inline engines were conventionally mounted of the front wing spar and drove variable-pitch twin-bladed propellers.

The fuselage was a metal monocoque, with a port side passenger door aft of six windows on each side, one per seat. Though the standard seat arrangement was for twelve, two seats could be removed to allow the installation of chaises-longues for longer flights. The pilots' cabin was enclosed, with side by side dual control seating. The tail unit carried twin vertical endplate fins, slightly oval on a tailplane that had strong dihedral. The balanced rudders and elevators were metal structures with the only fabric covering used on the aircraft. The elevators carried trim tabs. There was a small tailwheel, the main undercarriage retracting into the inner engine nacelles.

Operational history

The first flight was on 18 July 1937. By August 1938 the 661 had completed its Air Ministry tests and by April 1939 its 100 hr "endurance" tests. In mid-April it was handed over to Air Afrique and had made its first flight on the trans-Africa route from Dakar

Dakar

Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

 to Pointe Noire. Though only one was built before the war, it gained the reputation of being an economical transport. There were suggestions, in war-time England at least that the Potez 661 or its more powerful development the Potez 662

Potez 662

The Potez 662 was a higher powered and faster development of the Potez 661. Like its predecessor, it was a low wing, four engine monoplane carrying 12 passengers...

 might be built in occupied France for German use, but there is no evidence that any more were produced.

Specifications