The Blériot-SPAD S.46 was a small 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 the 1920s, developed from the

Blériot-SPAD S.33 The Bleriot-SPAD S.33 was a small French airliner developed soon after World War I. The aircraft was a biplane of conventional configuration whose design owed much to the Blériot company's contemporary fighter designs such as the S.20. Four ...

. Like its predecessor, it was a conventional

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

that seated four passengers in an enclosed cabin while the pilot and occasionally a fifth passenger rode in an open

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 ...

. The S.46 had a redesigned wing of longer span and a far more powerful

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

. The type was employed by Franco-Roumaine, which purchased 38 out of the 40 examples produced for use on their continental

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an routes. In 1922 one of the S.46s, modified to use a more powerful

Lorraine 12E Courlis 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 ...

W-12 engine was redesignated S.86. In 1929 this was changed to a

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...

engine in the same power range and redesignated S.126. In 1925, the surviving 34 Franco-Roumaine aircraft were recalled to Blériot where they underwent remanufacture to incorporate various refinements. These refurbished aircraft were redesignated S.66. One of these aircraft was subsequently also modified to use a more powerful

W-12 engine and redesignated S.116.

Variants

;S.46 :Single-engined passenger airliner, powered by a single

Lorraine-Dietrich 12Da The Lorraine 12D, also referred to as Lorraine-Dietrich 12D, was a series of water-cooled V12 engines produced by the French company Lorraine-Dietrich. The first variant began production in 1917, and the engines were used to power bombers for the ...

V-12 engine. ;S.66 :38 remanufactured S.46s. ;S.86 :One S.46 was modified when it was fitted with the more powerful

W-12 engine. ;S.116 :One S.66 was modified with the more powerful

Renault 12Ja Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of ...

V-12 engine ;S.126 :The S.86 was further modified again, when it was fitted with a

Hispano-Suiza 12Ha Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...

V-12 engine.

Operators

; * Franco-Roumaine (38 aircraft)

Specifications (S.46)

References

* *
aviafrance.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bleriot-Spad S.46 1920s French airliners Blériot aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1921

Variants

Operators

Specifications (S.46)

See also

References