The Couzinet 30 was a light transport aircraft /
mailplane
A mail plane is an aircraft used for carrying mail.
Aircraft that were purely mail planes existed almost exclusively prior to World War II. Because early aircraft were too underpowered to carry cargoes, and too costly to run any "economy class" ...
designed and built in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in 1930 at ''
Société des Avions René Couzinet''.
Design and development
Following closely the design characteristics of the
Couzinet Arc en Ciel and other Couzinet tri-motor transport aircraft, the Couzinet 30 was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed spatted undercarriage, three engines mounted on the fuselage nose and in wing nacelles, as well as the characteristic up-swept fuselage, common to most of Couzinet's designs.
Intended primarily as a mailplane the Couzinet 30 could also be fitted with three or four passenger seats in the cabin.
Built of wood, with metal fittings the Couzinet 30 had a fixed tail-wheel undercarriage which could be fitted with spats throughout. Control was by conventional controls with ailerons, elevator and rudder. The birch ply skinned ailerons were in two parts, with one connected to the pilots controls and the other connected by an articulated joint, to prevent jamming in the event of wing flexure.
Power was supplied by three
Salmson 9AD
Between 1920 and 1951 the Société des Moteurs Salmson in France developed and built a series of widely used air-cooled aircraft engines.Gunston 1986, p. 158.
Design and development
After their successful water-cooled radial engines, developed ...
radial engines in the nose of the fuselage and nacelles on each wing. Production aircraft were intended to have retractable main undercarriage and
Walter NZ-85 radial engines, for an expected gain of in maximum speed and in service ceiling.
Despite good performance and flying characteristics the Couzinet 30 was not produced in quantity and the sole prototype became the personal transport of
René Couzinet.
Specifications (Couzinet 30)
References
External links
Airwar - in RussianAviafrance: Couzinet 30 n°1 in French
{{Couzinet aircraft
30
1930s French mailplanes
1930s French civil utility aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Trimotors
Aircraft first flown in 1930