__NOTOC__ The Latécoère 17 was a French airliner built in 1923 for use on Latécoère's own airline routes between France and Morocco. The prototype was designated the Latécoère 14, reusing the number of an unrelated earlier design that had been rejected. This new aircraft was a

parasol wing 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 wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

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 wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

of conventional configuration with an enclosed cabin for four passengers and an open cockpit for the pilot. This was Latécoère's first commercially successful design and as production continued, three different engines were fitted.

Design and development

The Latécoère 14's parasol wing was rectangular in plan and built around a pair of metal girder

spars SPARS was the authorized nickname for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve. The nickname was derived from the USCG's motto, "—"Always Ready" (''SPAR''). The Women's Reserve was established by law in November 1942 during Wor ...

and with wooden

ribs The rib cage or thoracic cage is an endoskeletal enclosure in the thorax of most vertebrates that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum, which protect the vital organs of the thoracic cavity, such as the heart, lungs and great vessels ...

. It was fabric covered except in the centre which was covered with sheet metal and contained the fuel tank and a post box. The trailing edge had a large cut-out over the pilot's open cockpit to increase the upward field of view. On each side the wing was braced by a pair parallel of struts from the spars to the base of the fuselage, assisted about halfway out by a lighter, vertical strut pair and a third pair to the upper fuselage. Its centre section was attached to the fuselage by a fore and aft pair of inverted V-

cabane strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of struts, which act in ...

s. It was fitted with a

Renault 12Fe The Renault 12Fe, or 300 CV, is a water-cooled V12 aero engine. The 12Fe was the most produced Renault aircraft engine and powered many French aircraft during World War I and the 1920s. The 12Fe engines were the result of incremental improvemen ...

water-cooled

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-Cylinder (engine), cylinder Internal combustion engine#Reciprocating engines, piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V engine, V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more c ...

with a vertical exhaust and a transverse

radiator A radiator is a heat exchanger used to transfer thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling and heating. The majority of radiators are constructed to function in cars, buildings, and electronics. A radiator is always a ...

under the nose. The fuselage had a curved-section, with a metal structure and either

plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...

or metal covering (there are conflicting reports) forwards from the rear of the cabin and wooden structure with fabric covering aft. The cabin started aft of the cockpit, had three windows on each side and accommodated four passengers who entered by an oval port-side door. The

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

was conventional with metal structures and fabric covering. Its

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at 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 cantilev ...

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), 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 ...

, mounted high on the fuselage, was rectangular in plan as were the

elevators An elevator (American English) or lift (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive tracti ...

. The

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. F ...

and

balanced rudder Balanced rudders are used by both ships and aircraft. Both may indicate a portion of the rudder surface ahead of the hinge, placed to lower the control loads needed to turn the rudder. For aircraft the method can also be applied to elevator (air ...

had a triangular profile, with a vertical trailing edge. The Latécoère 14 had conventional, fixed

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

with mainwheels on a

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady flow, steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the f ...

single axle, fitted with rubber cord shock absorbers. Its ends were mounted to the lower fuselage with a V-strut on either side, cross braced with steel wires. Probably two type 14s were built. It was first flown, by Enderlin, in 1924. In December 1924 the second prototype appeared at the Paris Salon, already re-identified as the Latécoère 17. Tests had shown that it could only carry a disappointing commercial load of . The 17-1R (R for Renault engine) was a structural redesign and rebuild of the first type 14 that increased the load by . There was a new wing with semi-elliptical tips which reduced wing are by ; the deep cut-out was filled in, recovering some wing area. Seven were built, including two prototypes. During the production run, the fuselage covering was replaced with a longitudinally corrugated dural skin from the behind engine to the rear of the cabin. The earlier single port-side door was replaced by two on the starboard side and there were also two long, top-hinged doors on that side, one above the other, accessing freight and baggage space under the cockpit. These examples were designated 17-3R, of which seven were new-built and two more modified from 17-1Rs. There were also variants powered by

Gnome-Rhône 9A The Bristol Jupiter is a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine that was built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developme ...

engines, a nine-cylinder

radial Radial is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Mathematics and Direction * Vector (geometric), a line * Radius, adjective form of * Radial distance (geometry), a directional coordinate in a polar coordinate system * Radial set * A ...

, housed under an ovoid

cowling A cowling (or cowl) is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings ...

with its cylinder heads projecting for cooling. One 17-1J, equivalent to the 17-1R, was built and was later modified to 17-3J standard, together with five new examples.

Operational history

Lignes Aériennes Latécoère, operating as ''Compagnie générale d'entreprises aéronautiques'' (CGEA) flew at least fifteen of these aircraft and used several of them on its routes between France and Morocco. Eight were used for services to South America and two on a temporary domestic route between

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ; ) is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales departments of France, department in Southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the Me ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, and

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. After the sale of CGEA in 1928 they were operated by Aeropostale.

Variants

''Data from'' Cuny (1992), p. 62 ;Latécoère 14: Prototype with

Renault 12F The Renault 12F is a family of liquid-cooled 50 deg V12 aircraft engines that saw widespread use during World War I and the 1920s. The 12F series was developed from Renault's 8G engines with the two series sharing the same cylinder bore and s ...

e engine. Two built. ;Latécoère 17-1R:Initial production version with Renault 12Fe engine. Seven built including two prototypes, one the converted first 14. ;Latécoère 17-3R: Production version with Renault 12Fe engine. Seven built, plus two converted from 17-1R. ;Latécoère 17-4R: Production version with Renault 12Ja engine. Two built, plus one converted from 17-3R. ;Latécoère 17-1J: Version of 17-1R with

Gnome et Rhône 9A Jupiter The Bristol Jupiter is a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine that was built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developme ...

engine. One built. ;Latécoère 17-3J: Production version of 17-1J. Five built, plus one converted from 17-1J.

Specifications (17-4R)

References

External links

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Latécoère 17
{{DEFAULTSORT:Latecoere 17 1920s French airliners 1 Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft