Richard-Penhoet
Note this is a subsection of Chantiers de Penhoet.
In 1927 it was felt a matter of urgency in France to create an international air line particularly a line from Toulouse to Buenos Aires by way of Dakar, Cape Verde Islands, Noronha Island, and Pernambuco. It was feared that if the various schemes under consideration would be much longer delayed the overseas services air services would be so far monopolised by foreign companies there would be very little left for the French to do. There was lack of finances, and lack of suitable seaplanes of large capacity.
The Richard-Penhoet was a seaplane built by the French aircraft company Chantiers de Penhoet in haste to provide a suitable powerful seaplane for a French international airline service.
1927 - April. " The Richard-Penhoet seaplane is a monoplane of very thick wing section and is propelled by five Jupiter engines giving a total of 2100 horse-power. The central engine is in front of the flying boat, well ahead of the others, which arc on the edges of the planes. The total width of the machine is 40m and the length 27 m. The total weight of nearly 20 tons includes more than 5 tons of fuel necessary for the journey between Cape Verde Islands and Pernambuco and about 1 ton of paying load. The construction of the machine is a combination of wood and metal. "[1]
1927 trials - The trials carried out in Bay of Saint-Nazaire for some months had been promising, showing, as they do, that the huge machine was capable of being handled satisfactorily; but many defects had been revealed which were being remedied, notably in the arrangement of the engines and in strengthening certain parts of the machine that developed signs of weakness. [2]
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Sources of Information