The Potez 32 and its military version the Potez 33 was a single-engine French

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 ...

transport built by

Potez Potez (pronounced ) was a French aircraft manufacturer founded as Aéroplanes Henry Potez by Henry Potez at Aubervilliers in 1919 in aviation, 1919. The firm began by refurbishing war-surplus SEA IV aircraft, but was soon building new examples of ...

and based on the

Potez 29 The Potez 29 was a 1920s French passenger biplane designed and built by Avions Henry Potez. Although designed as a civilian aircraft, a large number entered service with the French Air Force. Development The Potez 29 was a biplane powered by a n ...

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 ...

Development

The Potez 32 used the same

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 ...

, tail unit and

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 ...

of the Potez 29, but was a high-wing

strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. Human anatomy Part of the functionality o ...

-braced monoplane configured as either a five-passenger transport or

mail plane 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" ...

. The first aircraft was flown in 1928 and was followed by 54 production aircraft. The Potez 33 militarized version was first flown in 1928 and designed as a

liaison Liaison means communication between two or more groups, or co-operation or working together. Liaison or liaisons may refer to: General usage * Affair, an unfaithful sexual relationship * Collaboration * Co-operation Arts and entertainment * Li ...

/ observation aircraft or could be used as a pilot or observer trainer. The Potez 33 was fitted with dual controls and had large observation windows, it also had a dorsal

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

position and could carry light bombs on under-fuselage racks.

Variants

;Potez 32 :Civil variant powered by a

Salmson 9Ab 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, develope ...

engine, prototype and 31 production aircraft. ;Potez 32/2 :Civil variant powered by a 171 kW (230 hp) Lorraine 7Ma engine, one built. ;Potez 32/3 :Civil export variant for Canada with a 164 kW (220 hp)

Wright J-5 The Wright R-790 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical Corporation, with a total displacement of about and around . These engines were the earliest members of the Wright Whirlwin ...

radial engine, seven built. ;Potez 32/4 :Civil variant powered by a 283 kW (380 hp)

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 ...

and a small increase in wing area, nine built and five converted for Potez 32. ;Potez 32/5 :Experimental variant with a

Hispano-Suiza 9Qd The Wright R-975 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by the Wright Aeronautical division of Curtiss-Wright. These engines had a displacement of about and power ratings of . They were the largest memb ...

engine, one built. ;Potez 33/1 :Military variant with a 171 kW (230 hp)

Lorraine 7Me The Lorraine 7M Mizar, also called the Lorraine 240CV Mizar, was a seven-cylinder air-cooled radial engine designed and built in France during the 1920s and 1930s. Nominal power was given as at 1500rpm (maximum continuous power), with a maximum ...

, two built for Portugal. ;Potez 33/2 :Military production variant with a Salmson 9Ab, 40 built for Brazilian and French Air Forces. ;Potez 33/3 :Military variant for Belgium with a 224 kW (300 hp) Gnome-Rhône 7Kdrs radial, four built. ;Potez 33/4 :Military variant for Belgium with a 224 kW (300 hp)

Lorraine Algol 9Na The Lorraine 9N Algol was a French 9-cylinder radial aeroengine built and used in the 1930s. It was rated at up to , but more usually in the range. Design and development The Algol was a conventionally laid out radial engine, with nine cylin ...

, eight built.

Operators

Potez 32 civil operators

; ; *'' Aéropostale'' *

Air Orient Air Orient was an airline based in France. Created in 1929 from the merger of ''Air Asie'' (c. 1928) and ''Air Union Lignes d’Orient'' (c. 1927 – renamed from Messageries Transaeriennes 1923), the short lived airline was merged with Air Franc ...

* CIDNA

Potez 33 military operators

; *

Belgian Air Force The Belgian Air Component ( nl, Luchtcomponent, french: Composante air) is the air arm of the Belgian Armed Forces, and until January 2002 it was officially known as the Belgian Air Force ( nl, Belgische Luchtmacht; french: Force aérienne belg ...

; *

Brazilian Air Force "Wings that protect the country" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Hino dos Aviadores , mascot = , anniversaries = 22 May (anniver ...

; *

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

; *

Portuguese Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = 1 July , equipment = , equipment_label ...

Specifications (Potez 33/2)

Potez_33_3-view_NACA_Aircraft_Circular_No