The Potez 661 was a four-engined metal low-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 con ...

airliner developed in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

just before

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 opposing ...

. The single example flew with

Air Afrique Air Afrique was a Pan-African airline, that was mainly owned by many West African countries for most of its history. It was established as the official transnational carrier for francophone West and Central Africa, because many of these countr ...

on French colonial routes.

Design and development

In 1936 the well-established

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 ...

company became part of the Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautique du Nord ( S.N.C.A.N.), under the Law for the Nationalisation of Military Industries. In 1937 they produced their first four-engined aircraft, the Type 661. This was a commercial machine with seating for up to twelve passengers. It was a low wing cantilever, almost all-metal monoplane. The wing tapered with a nearly straight trailing edge that carried outboard balanced ailerons and split trailing edge flaps over the whole of the centre section. The four 220 hp (164 kW)

Renault 6Q The Renault 6Q, also called the Renault Bengali 6, is an air-cooled six-cylinder, inverted piston engine, producing about continuous power. It was designed and built in France and produced for more than ten years after its homologation in 19 ...

inverted inline engines were conventionally mounted of the front wing spar and drove variable-pitch twin-bladed propellers. The fuselage was a metal monocoque, with a port side passenger door aft of six windows on each side, one per seat. Though the standard seat arrangement was for twelve, two seats could be removed to allow the installation of chaises-longues for longer flights. The pilots' cabin was enclosed, with side by side dual control seating. The tail unit carried twin vertical endplate fins, slightly oval on a tailplane that had strong dihedral. The balanced rudders and elevators were metal structures with the only fabric covering used on the aircraft. The elevators carried trim tabs. There was a small tailwheel, the main undercarriage retracting into the inner engine nacelles.

Operational history

The first flight was on 18 July 1937. By August 1938 the 661 had completed its Air Ministry tests and by April 1939 its 100 hr "endurance" tests. In mid-April it was handed over to Air Afrique and had made its first flight''Flight'' 24 April 1939 p.436
/ref> on the trans-Africa route from

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

Pointe Noire Pointe-Noire (; kg, Njinji, french: Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department since 2004. Before ...

. Though only one was built before the war, it gained the reputation of being an economical transport.''Flight'' 30 September 1943 p.436
/ref> There were suggestions, in war-time England at least that the Potez 661 or its more powerful development the

Potez 662 The Potez 662 was a higher powered and faster development of the Potez 661. Like its predecessor, it was a low wing, four engine monoplane carrying 12 passengers. Only one was built, serving with the French Air Ministry. Design and development ...

might be built in occupied France for German use, but there is no evidence that any more were produced.

Variants

;Potez 661: The initial prototype powered by 4x

-02 air-cooled inverted in-line engines ;

: A second prototype powered by 4x Gnome & Rhône 14M-5 radial engines, with equal tapered outer wings to allow for changes in the centre of gravity with the heavier radial engines.

Specifications (Potez 661)

Potez_661_3-view_L'Aerophile_January_1938

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{Potez aircraft 1930s French airliners

066 66 may refer to: * 66 (number) * One of the years 66 BC, AD 66, 1966, 2066 * "66" (song), a song by Lil Yachty featuring Trippie Redd *66, a song by The Afghan Whigs, from the album 1965 *Sixty-Six (card game), a German card game * ''Sixty Six'' (f ...

Four-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1937 Four-engined piston aircraft