The SAB AB-20 was a large four engine

twin boom A twin-boom aircraft is characterised by two longitudinal booms (extended nacelle-like bodies). The booms may contain ancillary items such as fuel tanks and/or provide a supporting structure for other items. Typically, twin tailbooms support ...

French

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

built in the early 1930s as a development of the Dyle et Bacalan DB-70 airliner. It featured a lifting body of thick airfoil section between the inner engines. It was later modified for the attack role; a second aircraft, the AB-21, had different engines and cleaner aerodynamics but no more were built.

Design

The SAB AB-20 was a four-engine night bomber development of the three-engine Dyle et Bacalan DB-70 airliner. The change of manufacturer's name was the result of the financial failure of Dyle et Bacalan in 1929, followed by its immediate reappearance as SAB, who took over DB-70 development. The latter was built around a thick, wide chord airfoil centre section which provided generous internal space for passengers. The engines were mounted on this structure as were twin

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 ...

s to carry the tail. The outer wings were of normal thickness and chord, and the

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

and undercarriage were also attached to the centre section. The generous intra-wing volume equally offered crew, fuel and bomb-room for military purposes. Initially the AB-20 was intended to have three engines like its predecessor, but during the design phase there was a military request for a bombardier's position and a gunner's cockpit in the nose, which required the removal of the centre engine and its replacement by two extra engines wing-mounted outboard of the centre section. Apart from the extra engines and the very different crew compartment, together with the removal of passenger accommodation, the AB-20 and DB-70 had much in common: the thick centre section and high-mounted outer wings, twin fuselages carrying a long

horizontal stabilizer 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 gyroplan ...

, and twin

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 ...

s and

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

s. Both aircraft had

conventional undercarriage Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

s with pairs of mainwheels widely separated on V-struts attached to the lower

longerons In engineering, a longeron and stringer is the load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural ...

of the centre section. The new central crew pod was flat-sided and tapered forwards to a complicated cylindrical nose, formed by a simple lower part with an overhanging, windowed cabin for the navigator/bombardier and an open gunner's cockpit, fitted with a

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 ...

ring, directly above. The nose also carried a long, conical probe with fine extensions, possibly pressure sensors. Further aft there was an enclosed pilot's cabin. A second gunner was stationed rearwards, on top of the centre section and a third fired from a

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Th ...

turret.

Development

The first flight of the AB-20 was on 15 January 1932. The following year it was reported that it had been structurally modified for the attack role and was returning to Villacoublay for tests.

By early 1934 a much developed version, the AB-21 had appeared. It had the newer V-12

Lorraine Petrel Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

water-cooled engines and a tapered, filleted

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 ...

wing without the struts used on the AB-20 and DB-70. The undercarriage had also been cleaned up with streamlined legs and wheels in long cowlings. The nose was further complicated, retaining the upper, open gunner's position but now with double underhanging windowed positions, though the conical probe had gone. Trials of an airborne sideways-firing 75 mm gun were carried out with the AB-20 prototype modified as the AB-22. Firing trials were halted after damage was caused to the lower wing skin by blast from the gun muzzle.

Variants

;SAB AB-20 :A four-engined bomber derived from the three-engined Dyle et Bacalan DB-70, powered by four Lorraine 12Fb Courlis engines. ;SAB AB-21 :Similar to the AB-20 and DB-70 but with cantilevered wings and powered by four Lorraine 12Ha Pétrel engines. ;SAB AB-22 :The sole prototype AB-20, with a crew of five, modified with a 75 mm gun firing sideways. Test firing took place at Cazaux in September 1934, but was terminated after five rounds had been fired due to structural damage to the lower wing skin.

Specifications (AB-21)

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

*
"The Next War In The Air" ''Popular Mechanics'', January 1936
photo bottom of pg 67 * from ''

Giornale Luce The Istituto Luce (translation: "Light Institute", with Luce being the acronym for "L’Unione Cinematografica Educativa", i.e. "The Educational Film Union") was an Italian film corporation, created in 1924 during the Fascist era. The Institute ...

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