The Wibault 280-T was a French 12-passenger civil airliner produced by

Wibault The Wibault company or ''Société des Avions Michel Wibault'' was a French aircraft manufacturing company. Its workshops were located in Billancourt, in the Paris area. History The Wibault company was established in 1919 by Michel Wibault. Th ...

backed by money from the Penhoët shipyards and also known as 'Penhoët Wibault'.

Design and development

The prototype Penhoët Wibault 280-T first flew at Villacoublay in November 1930 with the development backed by funds from the Penhoët shipyards of

St Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. T ...

. It was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane powered by three 300 hp (224 kW) Hispano-Wright 9Qa radial engines although these were soon replaced by three Gnome-Rhône 7Kb and the aircraft was redesignated the Wibault 281-T. A second aircraft was built to the 281 standard but then it was converted to a Wibault 282-T with three 350 hp (261 kW) Gnome-Rhône 7Kd engines and room for 12 passengers, seven further aircraft were built as 282s. Some of the 282s were operated by

Air Union Air Union was a French airline established January 1, 1923, as the result of a merger between the airlines ''Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes'' and '' Compagnie des Grands Express Aériens''. Air Union was merged with four other French airli ...

on the Paris-London ''Voile d'Or'' ("Golden Clipper") service in 1933. In 1934 Air France took delivery of the first of ten Wibault 283-Ts which had an increased fuel capacity and modified tail. Some of the 282s were converted to 283 standard. Some of the commercial aircraft were later taken over as military transports.

Accidents and incidents

*On 9 May 1934, Wibault 282-T F-AMHP of Air France

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into the English Channel off Dungeness, Kent, United Kingdom, killing all six people on board. *On 19 May 1934, a ''Golden Clipper'' of Air France crash-landed on a

cricket pitch In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets. It is long (1 chain) and wide. The surface is flat and is normally covered with extremely short grass, but can be completely d ...

adjacent to

Croydon Airport Croydon Airport (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main air ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, United Kingdom, due to fuel exhaustion. Only one of the ten people on board was injured. *On 24 December 1937, Wibault-Penhoët 283.T12 (c/n 11) F-AMYD of Air France crashed near Zhůří (currently part of

Rejštejn Rejštejn (german: Reichenstein) is a town in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered ...

), Czechoslovakia, due to a navigational error. The aircraft was supposed to land at Prague, but was directed by controllers to fly south and crashed in foggy, snowy and dark conditions after . Two pilots and a single passenger were killed. Rudder of Wibault-Penhoët 283

Variants

;Penhoët Wibault 280-T :Prototype with three

Hispano-Wright 9Qa 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 ...

radial engines, one built converted to a 281 and then to a 282. ;Wibault 281-T :Prototype with three Gnome-Rhône 7Kd radial engines. One built as such and one converted from 280-T. Both converted to 282-Ts. ;Wibault 282-T :10-passenger production variant with Gnome-Rhône 7Kd engines withcowlings around the wing-mounted engines. Six built from new plus two converted prototypes. ;Wibault 283-T :Production variant for Air France with three Gnome-Rhône 7Kd engines,

NACA cowling The NACA cowling is a type of aerodynamic fairing used to streamline radial engines installed on airplanes. It was developed by Fred Weick of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) in 1927. It was a major advance in aerodynamic ...

s, increased fuel capacity, higher weights and a modified tail, ten built.

Operators

; * Air France *

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; ...

; *

Aero Portuguesa Aero Portuguesa (AP, sometimes written Aero-Portuguesa, short names for the ''Sociedade Aero Portuguesa Lda.'' - Air Portuguese Society, Ltd.) was the first airline of Portugal with scheduled international services. It existed from 1934 to 1953, ...

Specifications (283-T-12)

Wibault_282_T12_3-view_L'Aerophile_September_1933

Notes

References

* * * * * *

External links

"Wings Over Four Continents" ''Popular Mechanics'', December 1935
photo bottom of pg.866, first two photos pg. 867 {{Wibault aircraft Trimotors Low-wing aircraft 1930s French airliners Wib 280 Aircraft first flown in 1930