The Loire 130 was a French

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

that saw service during World War II. It was designed and built by

Loire Aviation The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

of St Nazaire.

Development

The Loire 130 originated from a mid-1930s requirement from the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

for a reconnaissance seaplane or flying boat that could also serve aboard French battleships and cruisers. Chosen in 1936 against five competitors ( Bréguet 610,

Gourdou-Leseurre GL-820 HY The Gourdou-Leseurre GL-820 HY family of four-seat single-engined floatplanes were designed and built in France during the latter half of the 1930s by Gourdou-Leseurre. The GL-820 HY and GL-821 HY 02 were shipborne reconnaissance / observation a ...

, Levasseur PL.200, Potez CAMS 120), the Loire 130's performance was deemed to be good and production orders for 150 of the machines were placed. It entered production in 1937 and replaced most shipborne seaplanes and flying boats already in service.

Operational service

In the late 1930s, Loire 130s were serving aboard most battleships and cruisers of the French Navy, as well as aboard the seaplane tender ''

Commandant Teste ''Commandant Teste'' was a large seaplane tender of the French Navy (french: Marine Nationale) built before World War II. She was designed to be as large as possible without counting against the Washington Naval Treaty, Washington Treaty limits. ...

''. Although appearing quite obsolete and having very marginal performance for their time, quite a few Loire 130s survived the war and remained in post-war French service, especially in French colonies until 1951.

Variants

;Loire 130 M :Production version. ;Loire 130 Cl :Colonial variant with enlarged radiator and Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs

Operators

; *

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; ...

Specifications (Loire 130 M)

References

Bibliography

*Bousquet, Gérard. ''French Flying Boats of WW II''. Sandomierz, Poland: Stratus, 2013 *Green, William (1962). ''War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Five Flying Boats''. Macdonald:London. *Morareau, Lucien (2002). ''Les aéronefs de l'aviation maritime (1910–1942)''. ARDHAN, *

External links

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{{Loire aircraft 130 1930s French military reconnaissance aircraft Flying boats High-wing aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1934