Amiot 354

The Amiot 354 was the latest in a series of fast, twin-engine bombers which fought with the Armée de l'Air in limited numbers during the Battle of France.

Development

The Amiot 350 series originated in the same 1934 requirement as a rival to the Lioré et Olivier LeO 451. Derived from the Amiot 341 mail plane, the Amiot 340 prototype was involved in a propaganda misinformation flight to Berlin in August of 1938 to convince the Germans that the French employed modern bombers. Though 130 machines were ordered by the French government that year, production delays and ordered modifications ensured that September 1939 saw no delivered aircraft. Eventually, the ordered number of this very modern aircraft reached 830, though ultimately only 80 machines were received by the Air Ministry. The main variant was the twin-tailed 351; however, due to various delays, the single-tailed 354 was accepted into service as an interim type.

The Amiot 351 was planned to mount one 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934 machine gun in nose and ventral positions and one 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon in the dorsal position. Due to various technical issues with the armament installation, many aircraft went to operational units with only a single light machine gun in the dorsal position.

Operational history

In May 1940, the Amiot 351/354 was in the process of equipping just two bomber groupes: GB 1/21 and GB II/21 based at Avignon. Though 200 were in the final stages of construction, only 35 were ready for flight. This situation was exacerbated by the fact that the Amiot 351/354 was constructed in three separate factories, two of which were later bombed by the Germans. On 16 May 1940, the several Amiot 351/354 carried out armed reconnaissance missions over Maastricht in the Netherlands - the first combat mission conducted by planes of this type.

By June, the Amiot 351/354 was also delivered for GB I/34 and GB II/34, neither ever flying them in combat. At that time, all Amiot 351/354s were based on the northern front. Three had been lost in combat, 10 in training accidents. All aircraft were ordered to evacuate to Africa on 17 June, 37 surviving the trip. As their numbers were too few to effectively engage the Italians, they planes were sent back to Metropolitan France and their groupes disbanded in August 1940.

Five Amiot 351/354s continued to be used as a mail plane after the Battle of France. Four Amiot 351/354 were commandeered by the Luftwaffe as transports, two found service in the 1./KG200 special service geschwader.

Engines taken from these aircraft were later used on Messerschmitt Me 323 cargo transports.

Variants

• Amiot 340.01: Two 686 kW (920 hp) Gnome-et-Rhône 14P, single tail prototype (1)
• Amiot 351.01: Amiot 351 prototype.
• Amiot 351: Two 707 kW (950 hp) Gnome-Rhône 14N 38/39, twin tail (17)(This number may be low)
• Amiot 350: 351 re-engined with two 686 kW (920 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Y 28/29 engines (1)
• Amiot 352: 351 re-engined with two 820 kW (1,100 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Y 50/51 engines (1)
• Amiot 353: 351 re-engined with two 768 kW (1,030 hp) Rolls-Royce Merlin III engines (1)
• Amiot 354: single-tail variant, two 798 kW (1,070 hp) Gnome-et-Rhône 14N 48/49 (45) (This number is probably low)
• Amiot 355.01: 351 re-engined with two 895 kW (1,200 hp) Gnome-et-Rhone 14R 2/3 engines (1)
• Amiot 356.01: 354 re-engined with two 842 kW (1,130 hp) Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines (1)
• Amiot 357: high-altitude prototype with pressurized cabin, two 895 kW (1,200 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Z 89 turbocharged engines (1)
• Amiot 358: 351 re-engined post-war with two 895 kW (1,200 hp) Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines (1)
• Amiot 370: single-tail racer with two 642 kW (860 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Yjrs/Ykrs engines, developed specifically for (later cancelled) Paris-New York race (1)

The Amiot 351/354 saw service with the Armée de l'Air (80?)

Total production (including prototypes): (86?)

Operators

Template:FRA

• Armee de l'Air

Template:Country data Germany

• Luftwaffe

Specifications (Amiot 354 B4)

Data from War Planes of the Second World War: Volume Seven Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft

General characteristics

• Crew: Four (pilot, co-pilot, navigator, bombardier)
• Length: 14.50 m (37 ft 6¾ in)
• Wingspan: 22.83 m (74 ft 10¾ in)
• Height: 4.08 m (13 ft 4½ in)
• Wing area: 67.0 m² (721 ft²)
• Empty weight: 4,735 kg (10,417 lb)
• Loaded weight: 11,324 kg (24,912 lb)
• Powerplant: 2× Gnome-Rhône 14N48/49 14-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 791 kW (1,060 hp)(take off power) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 480 km/h (259 knots, 298 mph) at 4,000 m (13,100 ft)
• Cruise speed: 349 km/h (189 knots , 217 mph) (long range cruise)
• Range: 3,502 km (1,891 nmi, 2,175 mi)
• Service ceiling: 10,000 m (32,800 ft)
• Climb to 4,000 m (13,100 ft): 8.7 min

Armament

• Guns: 3 × 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns or 2 × 7.5 mm (.295 in) MAC 1934 machine guns and 1 × 20 mm cannon
• Bombs: 1,200 kg (2,650 lb)

See also

Comparable aircraft

• Dornier Do 17
• Douglas DB-7
• Martin Maryland

Related lists

• List of aircraft of the Armée de l'Air, World War II
• List of bomber aircraft

References

• Breffort, Dominique & Jouineau, André. French Aircraft from 1939 to 1942
• Green, William. War Planes of the second World War: Volume Seven Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft. London:Macdonald, 1967.
• Weal, Elke C., Weal, John A., Barker, Richard F. Combat Aircraft of World War Two
• Various issues of Avions magazine
• http://www.avions-bateaux.com

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Amiot 354".