The Farman NC.470 (also known as the Centre N.C-470 when

Farman Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 1936; during the French national ...

was nationalised to form

SNCAC SNCAC (the ', sometimes known as ) was a French aircraft manufacturer created by the nationalisation of the Farman Aviation Works and Hanriot firms in 1936. It was liquidated in 1949, with assets distributed between SNCAN, SNCASO, and SNECMA, a ...

) was a French twin-engined

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

designed as a crew trainer for the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

. It was used in small numbers for both its intended role as a trainer and as a coastal reconnaissance aircraft at the start of

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 opposin ...

Development and design

In 1935, the

Farman Aviation Works Farman Aviation Works (french: Avions Farman) was a French aircraft company founded and run by the brothers Richard Farman, Richard, Henri Farman, Henri, and Maurice Farman. They designed and constructed aircraft and engines from 1908 until 19 ...

designed as a private venture the F-470, a twin-engined floatplane intended to be used as a crew trainer by the French Navy. A production order for ten aircraft was placed on 8 March 1936, it being intended that these aircraft would use spare floats, propellers and engines left over from now retired Farman F.168 torpedo bombers.Green 1962, p.13.Lirons 1984, p. 203 In 1936, Farman was

nationalised Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...

, and merged with

Hanriot Aéroplanes Hanriot et Cie. or simply 'Hanriot' was a French aircraft manufacturer with roots going back to the beginning of aviation. Founded by René Hanriot in 1910 as ''The Monoplans Hanriot Company Ltd.'' the company survived in different ...

to form the

Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Centre SNCAC (the ', sometimes known as ) was a French aircraft manufacturer created by the nationalisation of the Farman Aviation Works and Hanriot firms in 1936 in aviation, 1936. It was liquidated in 1949, with assets distributed between SNCAN, SNC ...

or SNCAC. The prototype, now redesignated NC-470, first flew, with a temporary wheeled

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

, on 27 December 1937. The NC.470 was a twin-engined high-winged

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 mixed metal and wood construction, with two radial engines mounted on low mounted stub wings. It had a slab sided

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

, housing the crew of two pilots in a tandem cockpit, a navigator/ bombardier in the nose and a radio operator, flight engineer and gunner in the rear fuselage. The aircraft was designed to carry an armament of a single

Darne machine gun The Darne machine gun is a machine gun of French origin. Development The French gun-making company Darne, which became famous for its innovative shotguns, began making military weapons in 1915, when it was contracted by French government to man ...

on an open dorsal cockpit, together with up to 200 kg (440 lb) of bombs.Green 1962, p.14. The first order for 10 NC.470s was completed by mid-1939, together with a single example of the NC.471, powered by a different model of

Gnome et Rhône Gnome et Rhône was a major French aircraft engine manufacturer. Between 1914 and 1918 they produced 25,000 of their 9-cylinder Delta and Le Rhône 110 hp (81 kW) rotary designs, while another 75,000 were produced by various licen ...

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 ca ...

. Further orders brought production of the NC.470 to a total of 34.

Operational history

While intended as a crew trainer, a shortage of coastal reconnaissance aircraft resulted in NC.470s being drafted into this role, with three NC-470s and the sole NC-471 being used together with three

CAMS 55 __NOTOC__ The CAMS 55 was a reconnaissance flying boat built in France in the late 1920s which equipped the French Navy throughout the 1930s. Design and development The CAMS 55 design was derived from the unsuccessful CAMS 51 and followed t ...

flying boats to equip '' Escadrille 3S4'' at Berre in August 1939.Green 1968, p.19. The NC-470 was also used by the aircrew training school at

Hourtin Hourtin (; oc, Hortin, ) is a commune of southwestern France, located in the Gironde department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine (before 2015: Aquitaine). It is located in the canton Le Sud-Médoc, part of the district of Lesparre- ...

. Fourteen aircraft were captured by Germany during the occupation of Southern France in November 1942.

Variants

;NC.470 :Main production aircraft. Powered by two Gnome-Rhône 9Akx radial engines; 34 built. ;NC.471 :Revised version, powered by Gnome-Rhône 9Kgr engines; 2 built. ;NC.472 :Proposed version powered by

Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp is an aircraft engine of the reciprocating type that was widely used in American aircraft from the 1920s onward. It was the Pratt & Whitney aircraft company's first engine, and the first of the famed Wasp series ...

engines; unbuilt.

Operators

; *

Specifications (NC.471)

References

Bibliography

* Donald, David (editor). ''The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Leicester, UK:Blitz, 1997. . * Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Five Flying Boats''. London:Macdonald,1968. . * Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Six Floatplanes''. London:Macdonald, 1962. * {{SNCAC aircraft 1930s French military trainer aircraft NC.470 SNCAC aircraft High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft