The Farman NC.470 (also known as the Centre N.C-470 when Farman was nationalised to form SNCAC) was a French twin-engined floatplane designed as a crew trainer for the French Navy. It was used in small numbers for both its intended role as a trainer and as a coastal reconnaissance aircraft at the start of World War II.
| NC.470 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Farman F.470 | |
| Role | Trainer floatplane |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | SNCAC |
| First flight | 27 December 1937 |
| Primary user | French Navy |
| Number built | 35 |
Development and design
editIn 1935, the Farman Aviation Works designed as a private venture the F-470, a twin-engined floatplane intended to be used as a crew trainer by the French Navy. A production order for ten aircraft was placed on 8 March 1936, it being intended that these aircraft would use spare floats, propellers and engines left over from now retired Farman F.168 torpedo bombers.[1][2]
In 1936, Farman was nationalised, and merged with Hanriot to form the Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre or SNCAC. The prototype, now redesignated NC-470, first flew, with a temporary wheeled undercarriage, on 27 December 1937.[1]
The NC.470 was a twin-engined high-winged monoplane of mixed metal and wood construction, with two radial engines mounted on low mounted stub wings. It had a slab sided fuselage, housing the crew of two pilots in a tandem cockpit, a navigator/bombardier in the nose and a radio operator, flight engineer and gunner in the rear fuselage. The aircraft was designed to carry an armament of a single Darne machine gun on an open dorsal cockpit, together with up to 200 kg (440 lb) of bombs.[3][4]
The first order for 10 NC.470s was completed by mid-1939,[4] together with a single example of the NC.471, powered by a different model of Gnome et Rhône radial engine.[3] Further orders brought production of the NC.470 to a total of 34.[5]
Operational history
editWhile intended as a crew trainer, a shortage of coastal reconnaissance aircraft resulted in NC.470s being drafted into this role, with three NC-470s and the sole NC-471 being used together with three CAMS 55 flying boats to equip Escadrille 3S4 at Berre in August 1939.[3][6] The NC-470 was also used by the aircrew training school at Hourtin. Fourteen aircraft were captured by Germany during the occupation of Southern France in November 1942.[7]
Variants
edit- NC.470
- Main production aircraft. Powered by two 358 kW (480 hp) Gnome-Rhône 9Akx radial engines; 34 built.[5]
- NC.471
- Revised version, powered by 373 kW (500 hp) Gnome-Rhône 9Kgr engines; 2 built.[3][8]
- NC.472
- Proposed version powered by 447 kW (599 hp) Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp engines; unbuilt.[3]
Operators
edit
Specifications (NC.471)
editData from War Planes of the Second World War Volume Six, [7] and Aviafrance : S.N.C.A.C. NC-471[8]
General characteristics
- Crew: 6
- Length: 16.1 m (52 ft 10 in)
- Wingspan: 24.45 m (80 ft 3 in)
- Height: 4.85 m (15 ft 11 in)
- Wing area: 95.00 m2 (1,022.6 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 3,717 kg (8,195 lb)
- Gross weight: 6,013 kg (13,256 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × Gnome-Rhône 9Kgr 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 373 kW (500 hp) each
- Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propellers
Performance
- Maximum speed: 230 km/h (140 mph, 120 kn)
- Cruise speed: 190 km/h (120 mph, 100 kn)
- Range: 1,140 km (710 mi, 620 nmi) [4]
- Endurance: 6 hours
- Service ceiling: 6,000 m (20,000 ft)
- Time to altitude: 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 9 minutes 40 seconds
- Wing loading: 63.3 kg/m2 (13.0 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 0.12 kW/kg (0.073 hp/lb)
Armament
- Guns: 1 × 7.5 mm (0.295 in) Darne machine gun firing the 7.5x54mm French cartridge
- Bombs: 4 × 50 kg (110 lb) bombs
See also
editRelated lists
References
edit- ^ a b Green 1962, p.13.
- ^ Lirons 1984, p. 203
- ^ a b c d e Green 1962, p.14.
- ^ a b c Donald 1997, p.405
- ^ a b Parmentier, Bruno (30 August 2003). "S.N.C.A.C. NC-470". Aviafrance (in French). Retrieved 5 January 2020.
- ^ Green 1968, p.19.
- ^ a b Green 1962, p.15.
- ^ a b Parmentier, Bruno (30 August 2003). "S.N.C.A.C. NC-471". Aviafrance (in French). Retrieved 5 January 2020.
Bibliography
edit
- Donald, David (editor). The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Leicester, UK:Blitz, 1997. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.
- Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Five Flying Boats. London:Macdonald,1968. ISBN 0-356-01449-5.
- Green, William. War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Six Floatplanes. London:Macdonald, 1962.
- Liron, Jean (1984). Les avions Farman. Collection Docavia. Vol. 21. Paris: Éditions Larivière. OCLC 37146471.