The Bloch MB.220 was a French twin-engine passenger transport airplane built by

Société des Avions Marcel Bloch The Société des Avions Marcel Bloch was a French aircraft manufacturer of military and civilian aircraft. It was founded by the aeronautical designer Marcel Bloch (hence "MB" in the aircraft designations), who had previously played a major ro ...

during the 1930s.

Design and development

The MB.220 was an all-metal low-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 cant ...

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 con ...

. It was powered by two

Gnome-Rhône 14N The Gnome-Rhône 14N was a 14-cylinder two-row air-cooled radial engine designed and manufactured by Gnome-Rhône just before the start of World War II. A development of the Gnome-Rhône 14K, the 14N was used on several French and even one Ger ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

s and had a

retractable landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

. Normal crew was four, with room for 16 passengers, with eight seats each side of a central aisle. The prototype first flew on 11 June 1936 at Villacoublay with André Curvale at the controls, and was followed by 16 production aircraft. Six examples survived the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

and were modified as the MB.221 with Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone engines.

Service

By the middle of 1938, the type was being utilised by

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...

on European routes. The first service of the type (between

Le Bourget Le Bourget () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune features Le Bourget Airport, which in turn hosts the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace (Air and Space Museum). A very ...

and

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

(in south of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) was flown on 27 March 1938 with a scheduled time of 1 hour 15 minutes. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, most MB.220s were taken over as military transports, including service with

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Free French Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

and

Vichy French Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

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

; *

Free French Air Force The Free French Air Forces (french: Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres, FAFL) were the air arm of the Free French Forces in the Second World War, created by Charles de Gaulle in 1940. The designation ceased to exist in 1943 when the Free Fre ...

Vichy French Air Force The Air Force (french: Armée de l'air), usually referred to as the Air Force of Vichy (''Armée de l'air de Vichy'') or Armistice Air Force (''Armée de l'Air de l'armistice'') for clarity, was the aerial branch of the Armistice Army of Vichy Fran ...

*'' Societé Auxiliaire de Navigation Aérienne''

Accidents and incidents

* On March 3, 1940, the prototype of the MB.220 crashed into a mountain near

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

, France in poor weather, killing all three crew on board. * On September 1, 1941, the Air France MB.220 ''Languedoc'', registration F-AQNL, crashed into a lake on takeoff from

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

due to engine failure, killing all three crew and 12 of 14 passengers on board.

Specifications (MB.220)

References

* {{Bloch aircraft MB.220 1930s French airliners 1930s French military transport aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1935 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft