Levasseur PL 14

Двухместный Levasseur PL 14, представлявший собой вариант PL 7 с двухпоплавковым шасси, мог использоваться в качестве бомбардировщика (французская классификация B.2) с 410 кг бомб, торпедоносца (класс T.2) с 670-кг торпедой или дальнего разведчика. В последнем варианте самолет вместо боевой нагрузки нес дополнительные топливные баки. Оснащенный 650-сильным (485 кВт) двигателем Hispano-Suiza 12Nb, первый из двух прототипов поднялся в воздух весной 1929 года. Был выдан заказ на серию из 28 самолетов, поставки которых начались в 1932 году. PL 14 в варианте бомбардировщика развивал максимальную скорость 170 км/ч. Но в 1933 году из-за проблем с прочностью полеты на PL 14 были прекращены. Позднее их переделали в сухопутные самолеты, передав часть эскадрилье 7B1, а часть отправили в резерв.

Flight, July 1928

THE PARIS AERO SHOW 1928

The P. Levasseur P.L.7 T2B2b

   This French constructor has, for many years, made a speciality of Avians Marin of various types, intended for work with the French fleet, and for several years one of the features of all such machines has been the boat-built fuselage capable, when the machine alights on the sea, of remaining afloat at least for a sufficient time to give the crew a chance of being rescued. The machine exhibited this year is larger and, perhaps, in a way more ambitious, than have been those shown previously, but it retains the usual P. Levasseur features.
   The fuselage is built up much in the manner of a flying boat hull of very narrow beam. It should be realised that the machine is not intended to be flown off the water, but merely to be capable of alighting on it. The propeller (a Levasseur-Reid, of course) can be locked by the pilot in a horizontal position, and the undercarriage can be dropped while the machine is in flight.
   The fuselage or hull is provided with two steps, and has a fairly pronounced Vee bottom. The front step has a channel of rectangular section, running fore and aft, above the torpedo. No heating apparatus was to be seen on the machine as exhibited, but, doubtless, this was due to official restrictions.
   The undercarriage is of the "droppable" type, the details being illustrated by sketches. The telescopic leg is provided, at its upper end, with a species of bayonet joint, which is under the control of the pilot. When this is released, the wheel and telescopic leg fall downwards under their combined weight. The axle and radius rod, fitting into forked lugs on the fuselage, are free to fall when the wheel has reached a certain position, and the whole undercarriage is then released.
   In other respects the Levasseur is a normal machine with biplane wing arrangement. One unusual feature is the arrangement of the petrol tanks as wing roots on the lower plane. Apart from giving extra room in the fuselage, this arrangement probably affords a certain amount of extra flotation, the position being slightly outboard and the jettisoning of the fuel being relatively easily accomplished. The empty tanks are not, however, relied upon for lateral stability on the water, wing floats being provided for this purpose. The machine, like all P. Levasseur types, is pleasing to English eyes, possibly because, except for certain of its more unusual features, it might well have been designed and built in this country.
   Following are the main dimensions of the Levasseur torpedoplane: length, o.a., 11-7 m. (38 ft. 5 in.); wing span (top), 18m. (59 ft.); wing span (bottom), 13-6 m. (44 ft. 7 in.); wing area, 77-5 m.2 (835 sq ft.). The total loaded weight is 3,650 kg. (8,030 lb.) and the useful load 1,000 kg. (2,200 lb.) No performance figures are available.