The Sud-Est LeO H-246 was a large four-engined

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

from the late 1930s.

Development and design

The LeO H-246 was designed by the French aircraft manufacturer Lioré-et-Olivier to meet a 1935 specification for a commercial flying boat for use on the Mediterranean routes of

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

.Green 1968, p. 44. It was a four-engined

parasol An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy (building), canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionall ...

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 mixed construction and powered by four 720 hp (537 kW)

Hispano-Suiza 12X The Hispano-Suiza 12X was an aircraft piston engine designed in France by Hispano-Suiza during the early 1930s. A 12-cylinder Vee, liquid-cooled design, the 12X was used on several aircraft types, some of them being used in limited numbers durin ...

ir liquid 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 ...

s. All four engines were mounted in streamlined nacelles ahead of the leading edge of the wing. It had a

duralumin Duralumin (also called duraluminum, duraluminium, duralum, dural(l)ium, or dural) is a trade name for one of the earliest types of age hardening, age-hardenable aluminium–copper alloys. The term is a combination of ''Düren'' and ''aluminium'' ...

hull which was of similar layout to that of Lioré et Olivier's H-47; it had seats for 26 passengers, and a crew of four.Stroud 1992, pp. 51–52.Nicolaou 1998, p. 82. The prototype H-246.01 (Lioré et Olivier's factories had been nationalised at the end of 1936, so the aircraft was built by Sud-Est) made its maiden flight from the Étang de Berre on 30 September 1937.Stroud 1992, p. 52.

placed an order for six H-246.1 aircraft in January 1938, with the prototype also being brought up to production standard for commercial service.

Operational history

The refurbished prototype and the first production aircraft were being readied for commercial service when the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out in September 1939. The

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

drew up plans to requisition the H-246s as maritime patrol aircraft, but Air France still needed them, and the Navy agreed to take over only four of the aircraft. This allowed Air France to commence operations with the prototype on the

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 ...

–

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

route on 14 October 1939. The third production aircraft was completed for the Navy in June 1940, with a glazed position in the nose for a bombardier/navigator, bomb racks below the wings and four 7.5 mm

Darne machine gun The Darne machine gun is a machine gun of French origin. Development The French gun-making company Darne, which became famous for its innovative shotguns, began making military weapons in 1915, when it was contracted by French government to man ...

s as defensive armament. It entered service with ''Escadrille'' 9E on 25 August 1940, the only aircraft of the type actually to be operated by the French Navy, with the remaining aircraft going to Air France.Green 1968, pp. 44–45. In November 1942, the Allies landed in French North Africa and, in response, German forces occupied

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

. They seized the single French Navy H-246,Green 1968, p. 45. along with three Air France aircraft.''Air International'' August 1972, pp. 106–107. Two more Air France aircraft were at Algiers at the time and so escaped seizure by the Germans. (The prototype H.246 had been withdrawn from use in 1941). The German

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

took over the three seized ex-Air France aircraft, fitting them with five

MG 15 The MG 15 was a German 7.92 mm machine gun designed specifically as a hand-manipulated defensive gun for combat aircraft during the early 1930s. By 1941 it was replaced by other types and found new uses with ground troops. History The MG ...

machine guns as defensive armament and carrying up to 21 soldiers or 14 stretchers. The aircraft were used for various tasks, including transport in Finland. The ex-French Navy H-246 was destroyed at

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

by Allied attacks in the spring of 1944. After the war, the two surviving H-246s were used by Air France to restart the Marseille–Algiers service, continuing in use until September 1946.

Operators

; *

received 6 aircraft. *

;

Vichy French Air Force The Air Force (), usually referred to as the Air Force of Vichy (''Armée de l'air de Vichy'') or Armistice Air Force (''Armée de l'Air de l'armistice'') for clarity, was the aerial branch of the Armistice Army of Vichy France established in th ...

operated aircraft taken over from Air France. ; *

operated 4 aircraft captured in Vichy France.

Specifications (H-246.1)

References

Bibliography

*Bousquet, Gérard. ''French Flying Boats of WW II''. Sandomierz, Poland: Stratus, 2013 * Donald, David. ''The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Leicester, UK: Blitz Editions, 1997. *Green, William. ''War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Five Flying Boats''. London, Macdonald, 1968. * Hartmann, Gérard. ''Les Avions Lioré Et Olivier''. Boulogne-Billancourt, France: ETAI. 2002. (in French) *Nicolaou, Stéphane.
Boats & Seaplanes: A History Since 1905
'. Bideford, UK: Bay View Books, 1998. . * "Plane Facts: LeO in Finland". ''

Air International ''AIR International'' is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd. History and profile The magazine was fir ...

'' August 1972, Vol 3 No 2. pp. 106–107 *Stroud, John. "Wings of Peace: Lioré et Olivier H 46 and H 246". ''

Aeroplane Monthly ''Aeroplane'' (formerly ''Aeroplane Monthly'') is a British magazine devoted to aviation, with a focus on aviation history and preservation. __TOC__ ''Aeroplane Monthly'' Issue 1 of ''Aeroplane Monthly'' was published in May 1973 at a cov ...