 |
Caudron C.270 Luciole1931 |  |
| SPORTING, TOURING AIRCRAFT | Virtual Aircraft Museum / France / Caudron |
 |
Developed from the C.230 series by Paul Deville, the first Caudron C.270 appeared in 1931. It had less complicated wing folding, modified ailerons, rudder and elevators, and reverted to fabric covering for the fuselage. The landing gear was more refined compared with that of the C.230. Production of the basic C.270, powered by a 71kW Salmson 7Ac seven-cylinder radial, totalled 82. Production of all versions of the Luciole totalled 725. After the outbreak of World War II many C.272/4s and C.275s were requisitioned for service use as liaison aircraft. In 1946 the surviving machines were used as glider tugs by the Ecole de I'Air at Salon-en-Provence. Variants Caudron C.270/1: powered by an improved Salmson 7Ac2 engine Caudron C.271: had an 89kW Lorraine 5Pc inline engine and a Ratier metal propeller; only one built. Caudron C.271/2: powered by an 82kW Lorraine 5Pb engine; five built Caudron C.272: version with a Renault 4Pb engine; production totalled 52 Caudron C.272/2: powered by a Renault 4Pci engine; from the fifth example of the 22 C.272/2s completed the fin and rudder assembly was taller and more pointed, a shape which characterised all later Lucioles Caudron C.272/3: total of 15. built, powered by a Renault 4Pdi engine of 89kW and fitted with Messier brakes Caudron C.272/4: version with a 104kW Renault 4Pei engine and Messier brakes; the luggage compartment forward of the cockpits was eliminated; total of 21 built Caudron C.272/5: 80 examples of the C.272/5 were built, all powered by a 75kW Renault 4Pgi engine Caudron C.273: 14 of this version built, powered by the Michel 4 A-14 engine of 75kW driving a Merville series 402 propeller Caudron C.2.74: one example completed and displayed at the 1932 Paris Salon de I'Aeronautique; powered by the unsuccessful 101kW Chaise 4Ba engine Caudron C.275: this version was similar to the C.272/5, being powered by the same 75kW Renault 4Pgi engine, but dispensed with wing folding; it was by far the most popular version of the Luciole, and like the other versions was sold to private owners in France and abroad, flew with the Caudron flying schools at Royan, Amberieu and Guyancourt, and during the 1930s was seen regularly at aerial meetings and sporting contests; of the 433 C.275s built, 296 were ordered by the French government for the Aviation Populaire movement, which was intended to train would-be pilots who were unable to afford the fees charged by flying clubs Caudron C.276: this version was powered by a 78kW de Havilland Gipsy III engine, with brakes designed-by the Charles company and a tailplane reminiscent of the earlier Lucioles. One of these aircraft was used in the film The Blue Max to represent a German World War I fighter; the designation C.276H was given to two C.276s re-engined in 1956 with West German Hirth HM 504 A2 engines Caudron C.277: nine of this version built, being identical with the C.272/4 except that the wings did not fold . Caudron C.277R: this was a solitary C.275 re-engined with a Renault 4Po 3 in 1949 Caudron C.278: one example built; this had new landing gear and a 101kW Salmson 9Nc engine; participated in the Challenge Internationale de Tourisme competition with the contest code K-4.
|  All the World's Rotorcraft | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Daumas Pauo |
|
20
reply