The Sud-Ouest S.O.30 Bretagne was a 1940s French

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

built by Sud-Ouest.

Design and development

The Bretagne (Engl. "

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

") was designed by a group of designers and engineers who were based at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

from May 1941 following the invasion of France. The design was for a medium capacity civil transport, a twin-engined mid-wing cantilever all-metal monoplane. The prototype (designated the S.O.30N) first flew on 26 February 1945.

Operational history

The initial production version was designated the S.O.30P Bretagne with two versions with different engines. The aircraft operated with a crew of five and could carry between 30 and 43 passengers. A cargo version (the S.O.30C) was produced, with a revised interior and strengthened floor and large cargo door. The aircraft was operated as an airliner, but mainly by the French military forces as a medium transport. Some aircraft were fitted with two underwing

Turbomeca Palas The Turbomeca Palas is a diminutive centrifugal flow turbojet engine used to power light aircraft. An enlargement of the Turbomeca Piméné, the Palas was designed in 1950 by the French manufacturer Société Turbomeca,Gunston 1989, p. 169. a ...

turbojet engines for auxiliary power. Other aircraft were used for engine-trials fitted with the

SNECMA Atar 101 The SNECMA ATAR 101 is a French axial-flow turbojet engine built by SNECMA. It was derived from engines and design work carried out at BMW in Germany during World War II, and extensively developed though a progression of more powerful models. T ...

and licence-built

Rolls-Royce Nene The Rolls-Royce RB.41 Nene is a 1940s British centrifugal compressor turbojet engine. The Nene was a complete redesign, rather than a scaled-up Rolls-Royce Derwent"Rolls-Royce Aero Engines" Bill Gunston, Patrick Stephens Limited 1989, , p.111 w ...

turbojets.

Variants

;S.O.30N: Tailwheel undercarriage prototype, c/n 01 built after the 1940 armistice and stored till after the war. The second S.O.30R c/n 02 was built in 1946 and later converted to the S.O.30 Nene, jet powered airliner test-bed. ;S.O.30R Bellatrix: Two prototypes of the nosewheel undercarriage production model. ;S.O.30C:cargo version, one built with belly loading hatches. ;S.O.30P-1:production version with Pratt & Whitney R-2800-B43 engines. ;S.O.30P-2:production version with Pratt & Whitney R-2800-CA13 engines. ;S.O.30 Nene:One aircraft converted from S.O.30R c/n 02 for use as a testbed, powered by two

Operators

Military operators

; *

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; ...

Stroud 1966, p. 203. *

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

Civil operators

; *

Air Algérie Air Algérie SpA ( ar, الخطوط الجوية الجزائرية, ; ber, Aeriverdan idzayriyen) is the flag carrier of Algeria, with its head office in the Immeuble El-Djazair in Algiers. With flights operating from Houari Boumedienne Airpo ...

Stroud 1966, p. 202. ; *

Aigle Azur Aigle Azur was a French airline based and headquartered at Paris Orly Airport. The airline operated scheduled flights from France to 21 destinations across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, with a fleet of Airbus A320 family and A330 aircraft ...

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...

* COSARA based in

French Indo-China French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

Stroud 1966, pp. 202–203. ; * Iranian Airways ; * Air Maroc

Specifications (S.O.30P-2)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Bridgeman, Leonard. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1953–54''. London: Jane's All The World's Aircraft Publishing Company, 1953. * * Stroud, John. ''European Transport Aircraft since 1910''. London: Putnam, 1966. * ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985).'' London: Orbis Publishing, 1985.