__NOTOC__ The Latécoère 17 was a French airliner built in 1923 for use on Latécoère's own airline routes between France and Morocco. The prototype was designated the Latécoère 14, reusing the number of an unrelated earlier design that had been rejected. This new aircraft was a parasol wing

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 conventional configuration with an enclosed cabin for four passengers and an open cockpit for the pilot. This was Latécoère's first commercially successful design and as production continued, three different engines were fitted.

Design and development

The Latécoère 14's parasol wing was rectangular in plan and built around a pair of metal girder

spars The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve, also known as the SPARS (SPARS was the acronym for "Semper Paratus—Always Ready"), was the women's branch of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. It was established by the United States ...

and with wooden ribs. It was fabric covered except in the centre which was covered with sheet metal and contained the fuel tank and a post box. The trailing edge had a large cut-out over the pilot's open cockpit to increase the upward field of view. On each side the wing was braced by a pair parallel of struts from the spars to the base of the fuselage, assisted about halfway out by a lighter, vertical strut pair and a third pair to the upper fuselage. Its centre section was attached to the fuselage by a fore and aft pair of inverted V-

cabane strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

s. It was fitted with a Renault 12 Fe water-cooled

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The fi ...

with a vertical exhaust and a transverse

radiator Radiators are heat exchangers used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

under the nose. The fuselage had a curved-section, with a metal structure and either

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

or metal covering (there are conflicting reports) forwards from the rear of the cabin and wooden structure with fabric covering aft. The cabin started aft of the cockpit, had three windows on each side and accommodated four passengers who entered by an oval port-side door. The

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

was conventional with metal structures and fabric covering. Its

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 canti ...

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...

, mounted high on the fuselage, was rectangular in plan as were the elevators. The

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

and

balanced rudder Balanced rudders are used by both ships and aircraft. Both may indicate a portion of the rudder surface ahead of the hinge, placed to lower the control loads needed to turn the rudder. For aircraft the method can also be applied to elevators and ...

had a triangular profile, with a vertical trailing edge. The Latécoère 14 had conventional, fixed

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 ...

with mainwheels on a streamlined single axle, fitted with rubber cord shock absorbers. Its ends were mounted to the lower fuselage with a V-strut on either side, cross braced with steel wires. Probably two type 14s were built. It was first flown, by Enderlin, in 1924. In December 1924 the second prototype appeared at the Paris Salon, already re-identified as the Latécoère 17. Tests had shown that it could only carry a disappointing commercial load of . The 17-1R (R for Renault engine) was a structural redesign and rebuild of the first type 14 that increased the load by . There was a new wing with semi-elliptical tips which reduced wing are by ; the deep cut-out was filled in, recovering some wing area. Seven were built, including two prototypes. During the production run, the fuselage covering was replaced with a longitudinally corrugated dural skin from the behind engine to the rear of the cabin. The earlier single port-side door was replaced by two on the starboard side and there were also two long, top-hinged doors on that side, one above the other, accessing freight and baggage space under the cockpit. These examples were designated 17-3R, of which seven were new-built and two more modified from 17-1Rs. There were also variants powered by

Gnome-Rhône 9A 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 ...

engines, a nine-cylinder radial, housed under an ovoid

cowling A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...

with its cylinder heads projecting for cooling. One 17-1J, equivalent to the 17-1R, was built and was later modified to 17-3J standard, together with five new examples.

Operational history

Lignes Aériennes Latécoère, operating as ''Compagnie générale d'entreprises aéronautiques'' (CGEA) flew at least fifteen of these aircraft and used several of them on its routes between France and Morocco. Eight were used for services to South America and two on a temporary domestic route between

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

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 Franc ...

, and

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

. After the sale of CGEA in 1928 they were operated by Aeropostale.

Variants

''Data from'' Cuny (1992), p.62 ;Latécoère 14: Prototype with

Renault 12F Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

e engine. Two built. ;Latécoère 17-1R:Initial production version with Renault 12Fe engine. Seven built including two prototypes, one the converted first 14. ;Latécoère 17-3R: Production version with Renault 12Fe engine. Seven built, plus two converted from 17-1R. ;Latécoère 17-4R: Production version with

Renault 12J Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

a engine. Two built, plus one converted from 17-3R. ;Latécoère 17-1J: Version of 17-1R with Gnome et Rhône 9A Jupiter engine. One built. ;Latécoère 17-3J: Production version of 17-1J. Five built, plus one converted from 17-1J.

Specifications (17-4R)

References

External links

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Latécoère 17
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latecoere 17 1920s French airliners 1 Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft