BILL EWING COLLECTION
No. 10825. SPCA I Type 10 E5 French Navy
Photograph from Musée de l'Air

SPCA I Type 10 E5

09/30/2011. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "This aircraft was the first all-metal monoplane built by the Société Provençale de Constructions Aéronautique, which was the aircraft division of the Société Provençale de Constructions Navales. The type was of advanced concept for its time as a parasol-wing monoplane, and conformed to a 1927 requirement for a patrol bomber flying boat.

The thick-section wing carried the three 420 hp Gnome & Rhône 9 Jupiter radial engines on its leading edge and was itself raised above the fuselage on a strut arrangement that also supported the two lateral stabilizing floats. The fuselage was of Dural construction and divided into several watertight compartments. Armament consisted of three trainable 0.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns.

The first flight of the five-crew reconnaissance flying boat took place in April 1928 and trials revealed that while the type had good performance, it also possessed difficult handling characteristics. In December 1928, the French air ministry decided that further trials should be halted so that the aircraft could be modified before the resumption of trials for a different role.

In the next month, however, Lieutenant Campardon skated round the ministerial decision to make a last flight over the Gulf of Frejus. After an hour, the engines lost power and the aircraft dived into the sea and sank, taking with it the complete crew."

Created September 30, 2011