__NOTOC__ The Latécoère 15 was a French airliner built in 1925 for Latécoère's own airline, which operated routes between France and Morocco. It featured a parasol-wing monoplane design with twin engines mounted on the wing bracing struts. Small stub wings on the lower fuselage provided mounting points for the struts and main undercarriage units. The aircraft could carry six passengers in an enclosed cabin, while the pilot was situated in an open cockpit at the nose. Despite its innovative design, the Latécoère 15 was significantly underpowered. It struggled to take off with its maximum intended load and could not maintain flight on a single engine. Initially,

Pierre-Georges Latécoère Pierre-Georges Latécoère (; 1883–1943) was a pioneer of aeronautics. Born in Bagnères-de-Bigorre, he studied in the École Centrale Paris and, during the First World War, started a business in aeronautics. He directed plants that made p ...

intended to use the aircraft to extend the airline's route from

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over the desert to

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. However, pilot

Didier Daurat Didier Daurat (2 January 1891, Montreuil-sous-Bois – 2 December 1969, Toulouse) was a pioneer of French aviation. He was a fighter pilot during World War I, distinguishing himself by spotting the Paris Gun which was pounding Paris. After t ...

, who was assigned to this route, refused to fly the aircraft due to its performance issues. As a result, the ten Latécoère 15s produced were used on the

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

route and short feeder routes into Casablanca. These aircraft were withdrawn from service between 1926 and 1929. One Latécoère 15 was converted into a seaplane variant known as the Latécoère 15H, fitted with pontoons for trial operations on a route between

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

and Oran. However, the trials were unsuccessful, and the aircraft was subsequently converted back to its original configuration. Additionally, a third prototype of the Latécoère 15 was developed as a bomber and designated the Latécoère 19. This version featured a modified fuselage but retained the basic design of the Latécoère 15. It was equipped with a fixed

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in the nose, an open dorsal turret with a Lewis machine gun, and another Lewis gun mounted to fire down through a ventral port. The passenger cabin was replaced with bomb racks and ventral hooks for carrying ordnance.

Specifications

References

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aviafrance.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latecoere 15 1920s French airliners 1 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft