The Bernard 190 or Bernard-Hubert 190 was a French

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

of 1928. It was a high-wing

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

of conventional configuration, based on the

Bernard 18 The Bernard 18 was a prototype airliner developed in France in the 1920s. One of the two prototypes built was used in an abortive transatlantic crossing attempt and a number of failed attempts for aerial records. Development The aircraft was ...

. Compared with its predecessor, it kept the same basic design but featured redesigned tail surfaces, an enlarged cabin, and offered its flight crew a completely enclosed

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

. Also like its predecessor, the basic airliner model provided the basis for a long-range aircraft to be used in record attempts, the 191GR (for ''Grand Raid'').

Operational history

The eight 190Ts entered service in 1929 with CIDNA, operating on various European routes.Stroud 1966, p. 45 The 190T was not popular with CIDNA, whose president had been trying for several years to purchase more efficient and economical

Fokker F.VII The Fokker F.VII, also known as the Fokker Trimotor, was an airliner produced in the 1920s by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker, Fokker's American subsidiary Atlantic Aircraft Corporation, and other companies under licence. Design and d ...

s. The last 190T was burnt on 3 January 1933.Liron 1990, pp. 152–153 The 190 is best remembered for the exploits of the three 191GRs. The first built was used by Louis Coudouret in an attempt to cross the North Atlantic in August

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

. This was unsuccessful when the aircraft first refused to leave the ground in Paris, and was later turned back by

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

authorities unwilling to permit the flight. On 7 July 1929, Coudouret crashed the aircraft near

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...

and was killed. The second example was used in the first successful French aerial crossing of the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...

. Painted bright yellow and dubbed ''Oiseau Canari'' ("Canary Bird") it departed

Old Orchard Beach, Maine Old Orchard Beach is a resort town and census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,960 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the larges ...

on June 13, 1929 and piloted by Jean Assolant, René Lefèvre and Armand Lotti, it completed the crossing to Oyambre Beach, near

Comillas Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquessate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small castle ...

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

, Spain, in 29 hours 52 minutes, even with a stowaway (

Arthur Schreiber Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more ...

) aboard. This aircraft is now preserved in the '' Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace''. The third 191GR was used by

Antoine Paillard Born in Sainte-Gemmes-d'AndignéFrench website on ''Escadrille 111'Retrieved 25 August 2020 in 1897, sous Lieutenant Antoine Joseph Henri Louis Paillard was a World War I flying ace credited with five aerial victories and was awarded three decora ...

to set two world airspeed records, for with a payload, and for with a payload.

Variants

;190T:Single-engined airliner, powered by a

Gnome et Rhône 9Ady The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments tur ...

(licence-built Bristol Jupiter) radial piston engine. ;191T:A single aircraft powered by a

Hispano-Suiza 12Lb Hispano-Suiza piston aero-engines were predominantly piston engines produced by Hispano-Suiza in France, Spain, and under licence in the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia from the First World War through to the 1950s. Development of these ...

V-12 engine. ;191GR:Record-breaking aircraft, powered by

piston engine. Three built as 191G.R. No.1, 191G.R. No.2 and 191G.R. No.3. ;192T:Single mailplane example for Aéropostale, powered by a

Gnome & Rhône 9Akx The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments tur ...

radial engine. ;193T:Single-engined transport aircraft, powered by a

Lorraine 12Eb The Lorraine 12E Courlis was a W-12 (broad arrow) aero engine produced by the French company Lorraine-Dietrich during the 1920s and 1930s. Variants ;12E: ;12Eb: ;12Ebr: ;12Ed: ;12Edr: ;12Ee: ;12Ew:The standard Eb fitted with a supplementary s ...

piston engine. Only one built. ;197GR:Engine demonstrator commissioned by

Lorraine-Dietrich Lorraine-Dietrich was a French automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer ''Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissements de Dietrich et Cie de Lunéville'' (known as ''De Dietri ...

. Lost off

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

26 February

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

Operational history

Variants

Operators

Specifications (190T)

References

Bibliography

Further reading