Bloch MB.220

MB.220
Role Airliner
Manufacturer Société des Avions Marcel Bloch
First flight 1935
Introduction 1938
Retired 1950
Primary users Air France
French Air Force
Number built 17

The Bloch MB.220 was a French twin-engine passenger transport airplane built by Société des Avions Marcel Bloch during the 1930s.

Design and development

The MB.220 was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane. It was powered by two Gnome-Rhône 14N radial engines and had a retractable landing gear. Normal crew was four, with room for 16 passengers, with eight seats each side of a central aisle. The prototype first flew in December 1935, and was followed by 16 production aircraft.

Six examples survived the war and were modified as the MB.221 with Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone engines[1].

Service

By the middle of 1938, the type was being utilised by Air France on European routes. The first service of the type (between Le Bourget and Croydon (in south of London) was flown on 27 March 1938 with a scheduled time of 1 hour 15 minutes. During World War II, most MB.220s were taken over as military transports, including service with German, Free French and Vichy French air forces. Air France continued to fly the aircraft (as MB.221s) after the war on short-range European routes. It sold four aircraft in 1949 but within a year all had been withdrawn from service.

Variants

MB.220
One prototype, registration F-AOHA, and 16 production aircraft with Gnome-Rhône 14N-16 and Gnome-Rhône 14N-17 engines (opposite rotation).
MB.221
Six survivors, registration F-AOHC to F-AOHF, F-AQNM and F-AQNN, re-engined with the Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone.

Operators

 France

Accidents and incidents

  • On March 3, 1940, the prototype of the MB.220 crashed into a mountain near Orange, France in poor weather, killing all three crew on board[2].
  • On September 1, 1941, the Air France MB.220 Languedoc, registration F-AQNL, crashed into a lake on takeoff from Marseille due to engine failure, killing all three crew and 12 of 14 passengers on board[3].

Specifications (MB.220)

Bloch MB 220

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938[4]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 3
  • Capacity: 16
  • Length: 19.6 m (64 ft 4 in)
  • Wingspan: 22.8 m (74 ft 10 in)
  • Height: 3.9 m (12 ft 10 in)
  • Wing area: 75 m2 (810 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 6,500 kg (14,330 lb)
  • Gross weight: 9,500 kg (20,944 lb)
  • Fuel capacity: 2,160 l (570 US gal; 480 imp gal) in four wing tanks
  • Powerplant: 1 × Gnome-Rhône 14N-16 14-cyl. two-row air-cooled piston engines, 682 kW (915 hp) at 1,750 m (5,741 ft)
    (right hand rotation)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Gnome-Rhône 14N-17 14-cyl. two-row air-cooled piston engines, 682 kW (915 hp) at 1,750 m (5,740 ft)
    (left hand rotation)
  • Propellers: 3-bladed Ratier variable-pitch propellers

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 350 km/h (217 mph; 189 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 300 km/h (186 mph; 162 kn) at 60% power
  • Service ceiling: 7,000 m (23,000 ft) (on one engine 2,500 m (8,200 ft))
  • Wing loading: 131 kg/m2 (27 lb/sq ft)
  • Power/mass: 7.24 kg/kW (11.9 lb/hp)

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

References

  1. ↑ "Civil Aircraft Register - France".
  2. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Bloch 220 F-AOHA Orange".
  3. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Bloch 220 F-AQNL Marseille-Marignane Airport (MRS)".
  4. ↑ Grey, C.G. (1938). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1938. London: Sampson, Low & Marston. pp. 107c–108c.
  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.
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