The Gourdou-Leseurre GL-812 HY was a 3-seat reconnaissance

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, ...

, built by Gourdou-Leseurre.

Development

The prototype, called L-2, was built in 1926-27. It has a steel tube fuselage, and rectangular wooden wing. The tail was two fins, one above and one below the fuselage. The entire plane was fabric covered, except the

Gnome-Rhône 9A Jupiter 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 turn ...

engine, which was left uncowled. The prototype was flown to Copenhagen, and demonstrated there to several countries. Six prototype L-3s were constructed. They had a larger Jupiter, steel spars instead of wood, and stronger struts, allowing for shipboard catapult launching. After successfully testing the L-3, the French navy ordered 14 production GL-810 HY aircraft. The first production 810 HY flew on 23 September 1930, taking off from the

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Les Mureaux Les Mureaux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. It is located in the north-western suburbs of Paris, from the Kilometre Zer ...

. In 1931, 20 GL-811 HYs were ordered, for operation from the seaplane carrier Commandant Teste and from 1933 to 1934 twenty-nine GL-812 HYs and thirteen GL-813 HYs were ordered.

Variants

Gourdou-Leseurre_L-2_L'Aérophile_October,1927

Gourdou-Leseurre_L-2_3-view_L'Aérophile_October,1927

;Gourdou-Leseurre L-2 :The initial prototype of the catapult-launched floatplane observation aircraft. ;Gourdou-Leseurre L-3 :Six prototype development aircraft with revised structure. ;Gourdou-Leseurre GL-810 HY :Initial production - 24 produced for

Aeronavale French Naval Aviation (often abbreviated in French to: ''Aéronavale'' (contraction of Aéronautique navale), or ''Aviation navale'', or more simply ''l'Aéro'') is the naval air arm of the French Navy. The long-form official designation is ' ...

. ;Gourdou-Leseurre GL-811 HY :Developed version - 20 built from 1931. ;Gourdou-Leseurre GL-812 HY :29 built 1933-34. ;Gourdou-Leseurre GL-813 HY :13 built.

Operators

; * French Navy

Units using this aircraft

*Escadrille 7S2 ( Commandant Teste) *Escadrille 7S3 (spread among various cruisers) *Escadrilles 1S1, 2S1, 2S4, 3S1, 3S2, 3S3, 3S6, 8S2, 8S5. While most aircraft had been retired by 1939, that August the remaining aircraft were brought together to re-equip the recently re-activated and mobilized Escadrilles 1S2 and 3S3 at

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

and

Berre-l'Étang Berre-l'Étang (; oc, Bèrra) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southern France. Population See also * Étang de Berre * Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department The followin ...

, respectively and perform coastal anti-submarine patrols.

Specifications (812 HY)

References

Bibliography

* * {{Gourdou-Leseurre aircraft 1920s French military reconnaissance aircraft GL-812 Aircraft first flown in 1930 Single-engine aircraft