__NOTOC__ The Latécoère 25 was a French airliner built in 1925 for use on Latécoère's own airline and its subsidiaries. Essentially a refined version of the Latécoère 17 with an enlarged wingspan, it supplanted that type in production and then in service.

Operational history

As Lignes Aériennes Latécoère increasingly shifted its emphasis from carrying passengers to carrying

airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be th ...

, the Latécoère 25 found its definitive role as a

mail plane The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...

, and was widely used in establishing the line's South American services. Airlines which operated the type included Aeroposta Argentina. Like the Latécoère 17, it was a conventional parasol-wing monoplane with enclosed seating for passengers and an open cockpit for the pilot. One Latécoère 25 was involved in a celebrated incident when it made a forced landing high in the Andes. Hitherto, flights between

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

and

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

made a detour to avoid the mountains. On 2 March 1929, while searching for a safe route across the range, a Latécoère 25 piloted by

Jean Mermoz Jean Mermoz (9 December 1901 – 7 December 1936) was a French people, French aviator, viewed as a hero by other pilots such as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and in his native France, where many schools bear his name. In Brazil, he also is recognized ...

was caught in a downdraught and forced down onto a plateau just across at an altitude of . With his mechanic Alexandre Collenot and passenger, Count

Henry de La Vaulx Henry de La Vaulx (1870–1930) was a French balloonist, author, and cofounder of major French and international aeronautical associations. Biography He was born in Bierville, France on April 2, 1870. From March 1896 to May 1897 he stayed with ...

, Mermoz spent the next four days repairing and lightening the aircraft and making a clear path from it to the edge of the precipice. He then rolled it off the edge, diving to attain airspeed, and successfully reached Santiago.

Survivors

The only surviving example of a Latécoère 25 is preserved in the '' Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina'' in Morón. It wears the markings of Aeroposta Argentina.

Variants

;Latécoère 25 ;Latécoère 25-2R: production aircraft

Specifications (Laté 25)

References

External links