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The Bréguet 19 (Bréguet XIX, Br.19 or Bre.19) was a light bomber and reconnaissance plane, also used for long-distance flights, designed by the French Bréguet company and produced from 1924.
The Bréguet 19 was designed as a successor to a highly-successful World War I light bomber, the Bréguet 14. Initially it was designed to be powered with two Bugatti engines, driving one four-bladed propeller, and such a prototype was shown on the 7th Paris Air Show in November, 1921. A new design was flown in March, 1922, featuring a conventional layout with a single 450 hp Renault 12Kb inline engine. The aircraft was built in a biplane planform, with shorter lower wings. After trials, the Bréguet 19 was ordered by the French Air Force in September 1923.
The first eleven Bréguet 19 prototypes were powered by a number of different engines. A "trademark" of Bréguet was the wide usage of duralumin as a construction material, instead of steel or wood. At that time, the aircraft was faster than other bombers, and even some fighter aircraft. Therefore, it met with a huge interest in the world, strengthened by its sporting successes. Mass production, for the French Air Force and export, started in France in 1924.
The Br 19 was a biplane (sesquiplane), conventional in layout, with braced wings. The fuselage, ellipsoid in cross-section, was a frame of duralumin pipes. The front part was covered with duralumin sheets, the tail with canvas. The wings were canvas covered. It had a conventional fixed landing gear, with rear skid. The crew of two, pilot and observer/bombardier, sat in tandem in open cockpits, with dual controls.
There were used many different engines fitted, mostly water cooled 12-cylinder inline engines:
They carried 365 litres of fuel in a fuselage tank. The propeller was wood.
A fixed 7.7 mm Vickers machine gun with interrupter gear was operated by the pilot, while the observer had twin 7.7 mm Lewis machine guns. There was also a fourth machine gun, which could be fired by the observer downwards through an opening in a floor. According to some sources, the C2 and CN2 fighter variants were fitted with two pilot's machine guns. The bomber variant could carry up to 472 kg of bombs under the fuselage, or in a vertical bomb bay (small bombs up to 50 kg). The reconnaissance variant could carry twelve 10 kg bombs. The reconnaissance variant had a camera mounting, which was optional on the bomber variant. All variants had radio.
Br.19 A2 reconnaissance plane.
Br.19 B2 light bomber.
These first two variants were the most numerous, and were practically identical. They used a variety of engines, the most popular being the 400 hp Lorraine-Dietrich 12Db inline V12, the 450 hp Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb W12, the Renault 12K, and some models of Hispano-Suiza engines.
Br.19 C2 heavy fighter and Br.19 CN2 night fighter.
The same aircraft in different roles, it was almost identical to the B2 reconnaissance variant (according to some sources, it had only one additional machine gun). In the early 1930s, some French versions were refitted with Farman 12W engines.
Br.19 GR
A special long-distance sport variant built in France in 1925 and equipped with a large fuel tank of 1,994 litres. A similar modification was carried out in Belgium. Four French Br.19 GR of 1926 underwent further modification. They had 2,920 litre fuel tanks fitted in the fuselage, and the cockpit was moved slightly aft. They also had their wingspan increased from 14.83 to 15.9 metres. These and another sport variants used more powerful 500 to 600 hp engines.
Br 19 TR Bidon
Built in 1927 with a 3,735 litre fuel tank in a thicker and aerodynamically refined fuselage. With an additional fuel tank in the wing, the total fuel capacity was 4,125 litres. Five were built by Bréguet and two by the Spanish company CASA (some publications give lower numbers of aircraft built, or different fuel capacity).
Super Bidon
The last and most advanced long-distance variant, built in 1929, and designed for transatlantic flight. It had a 5,180 litre fuel tank (later 5,580 litres), a modified fuselage, and a wing span of 18.3 metres. It was powered by a 600 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Lb engine (later upgraded to 650 hp). A single model was built in France, and another, with a closed canopy, was built in Spain in 1933.
Br.19ter
Utilizing the experience with long-distance variants, this improved reconnaissance variant was developed in 1928 (there is no positive information on its eventual service) for export purposes.
Br.19.7
The most popular of the late variants developed in 1930 with a 600 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Nb engine, giving a maximum speed of 242 km/h. The first five machines were converted in France for Yugoslavia, then a number were built in Yugoslavia, and a further fifty built in France for export to Turkey.
Br.19.8
With a 780 hp Wright Cyclone GR-1820-F-56 radial engine, forty-eight Br.19.7 airframes were eventually completed as Br.19.8's in Yugoslavia. Their maximum speed was 279 km/h.
Br.19.9
A single prototype developed in Yugoslavia with a 860 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Ybrs engine.
Br.19.10
A single prototype developed in Yugoslavia with a 720 hp Lorraine-Dietrich 12Hfrs Petrel engine.
Br.19 hydro
Fitted with floats as a seaplane, probably only one prototype was produced for France (some sources claim a second one was made for Japan).
Some modified civilian variants of the Bréguet 19 were also developed:
Br.19T
A six-seat prototype passenger plane with a thicker fuselage.
Further passenger variants with a totally rebuilt fuselage were designated Br.26T (1926), Br.280T, Br.281T and Br.284T.
These were used in limited numbers in France and Spain.
In total, more than 2,000 Bréguet 19's were manufactured in France, and about 700 license-built by Spanish CASA, Belgian SABCA and the Yugoslavian factory in Kraljevo.
Both standard and modified Bréguet 19s were used for numerous record-breaking flights. The first was the Br.19 prototype, which won a military aircraft speed contest in Madrid on 17 February 1923. On 12 March 1923 it also set an international altitude record of 5,992 metres (19,660 feet) carrying a 500 kg (1,102 lb) load. It was later bought by Spanish government.
Two Br.19 A2's were bought by the Japanese Asahi Shimbun newspaper and fitted with additional fuel tanks. They were flown by H. Abe and K. Kawachi on the Tokyo-Paris-London route in July 1925, covering 13,800 km (8,575 miles). Between 27 August and 25 September, 1926, the Polish crew of Boleslaw Orlinski flew the Warsaw-Tokyo route (10,300 km or 6,400 miles) and back, in a modified Br.19 A2, despite the fact that one of its lower wings was broken on the way. Between 1927 and 1930 Romanian, Yugoslavian and Polish Br.19's were often used in Little Entente air races.
Bréguet 19 GR's and TR's set several world records, mostly of long-distance non-stop flights, starting with Arrachart and Lemaitre's 3,166 km (1,967 mile) flight from Paris to Villa Cisneros in 24½ hours on 2-3 February, 1925. On 14-15 July 1926, Girier and Dordilly set a new record of 4,716 km (2,930 miles) between Paris and Omsk, beaten on 31 August-1 September by Challe and Weiser's 5,174 km (3,215 miles), and on 28 October by Dieudonne Costes and Rignot's 5,450 km (3,386 miles). Between 10 October 1927 and 14 April 1928 Costes and Le Brix flew a Br.19 GR (named Nungesser-Coli) around the world, covering 57,000 km (35,418 miles) - though the journey between San Francisco and Tokyo was taken by ship.
The Super Bidon was created especially for the purpose of a transatlantic flight. It was named "?" (Point d'Interrogation - The Question Mark). Dieudonne Costes and Maurice Bellonte set a non-stop distance record of 7,905 km (4,911 miles) from Paris to Moullart on 27-29 September 1929 on this plane. Then on 1-2 September 1930, they flew from Paris to New York City, a distance of 6,200 km (3,852 miles) making the first non-stop east-west crossing by a fixed wing aircraft of the north Atlantic. The second Super Bidon, the Spanish Cuatro Vientos, vanished over Mexico with M. Barberan and J. Collar Serra, after a transatlantic flight from Seville to Cuba on 10-11 June 1933.
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