Loire 250

The Loire 250 was a French single-seat fighter monoplane designed and built by Loire Aviation of St. Nazaire.

Loire 250
Role	Single-seat fighter monoplane
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Loire
First flight	27 September 1935
Number built	1

Design and development

The Loire 250 was built to meet a requirement for a single-seat fighter prototype to undergo a fly-off competition with the Dewoitine D.513 and Morane-Saulnier MS.405. The Loire 250 was an all-metal low-wing monoplane powered by a 1,000 hp (746 kW) Hispano-Suiza 14Ha-7a radial engine with a single enclosed cockpit and retractable conventional landing gear with a tailwheel. Only one prototype was produced; it first flew 27 September 1935. It was modified to improve performance before the fly-off but failed to gain a production order. The prototype was unarmed but it was intended to fit two 20 mm cannon and two 7.5 mm machine-guns if the type entered production.

Specifications

Data from Aviafrance:Loire 250

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 7.81 m (25 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 10.8 m (35 ft 5 in)
• Height: 3.72 m (12 ft 2 in)
• Wing area: 16.3 m² (175 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 1,500 kg (3,307 lb)
• Gross weight: 2,200 kg (4,850 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Hispano-Suiza 14Ha 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial piston engine, 750 kW (1,000 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed wooden fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 480 km/h (300 mph, 260 kn) at 4,500 m (14,800 ft)
• Range: 875 km (544 mi, 472 nmi)
• Time to altitude: 4,500 m (14,800 ft) in 5 minutes 30 seconds

Armament

• Guns: not fitted to prototype

two 20 mm (0.8 in) cannon and two 7.5 mm (0.30 in) machine-guns proposed for production aircraft

Bibliography

• Bousquet, Gerard (August 2023). "Un destin contrarié: L'avion de chasse Loire 250 C1" [A Contrary Destiny: The Loire 250 Single-seat Fighter]. Le Fana de l'Aviation (in French) (645): 32–40. ISSN 0757-4169.
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.