Loire and Nieuport 40

The Loire-Nieuport LN 401 single-seat dive bomber type was the "French stuka" but suffered very heavy losses during the Second World War. Having the mission of bombing, it most often operated against a powerful anti-aircraft defense.

History

Making its first flight in June 1938, the first prototype of the Loire-Nieuport 401 dive bomber was an inverted M low-wing monoplane derived from the LN 140. During the official tests, modifications were made to the fuselage and the its system of aerodynamic brakes was removed and replaced by the opening of the nose-down wheels. 7 pre-production copies were ordered by the naval aviation. Then a second order was placed for 15 copies. The last order was for 36 aircraft acquired in 1939 by the Aéronavale. During the same year, the air force bought about forty LN.411 which differed from the previous ones only by the abandonment of the folding system of the wings as well as some specific equipment. After the clashes of 1940, 24 LN 401 and LN 411 were assembled from elements already built in Châteauroux from March 1942. Transferred to Hyères, 12 of them were seized by the Germans in November 1942. The others, which had been sent to Bizerte-Karouba in Tunisia, were destroyed there, along with other machines, during the Allied air raids of 1943. The overall production of the two models reached a hundred copies. Loire-Nieuport built a single copy:the LN 402 and an LN 42. The latter took to the air at Toussus-le-Noble on August 24, 1945 but was scrapped in 1947 being exceeded.

Features

The LN 401 was specially designed for naval aviation, to serve on the aircraft carrier Béarn. Thus it had a wing folding system. The main legs of the train retracted into intrados nacelles. During the attack, the aerodynamic brakes were provided by opening the nose-down landing gear. They were done in semi-dive at an angle between 60 and 45° from 1,200 m to 300 m with resource. The bomb carried by this plane was suspended under the fuselage from a fork which allowed it to be dropped without hitting the propeller.

Commitment

4 pre-production LN.401s were entrusted to the AC1 squadron of the Aéronavale during the summer of 1939, the production aircraft being transferred to the AB2 and AB4 squadrons. The Air Force then ceded its LN.411s to the Navy, the AB4 squadron being completely transformed on this type of aircraft in April 1940. During the missions carried out on May 19 and 20, 1940, these two units which engaged 23 aircraft were to lose 11 of their aircraft, 11 others being damaged; all by the Flak. The survivors were withdrawn to Hyères where, with some aircraft received in addition, they accomplished several reconnaissance and convoy escort sorties against the Italians. On the night of June 17-18, 13 machines bombarded Italian ships in the port of Imperia. The last planes were repatriated to North Africa on June 25 to be removed from the front lines and stored.

Versions

Series device

LN.401:equipped with a Hispano-Suiza 12Xcrs engine of 12 cylinders in V of 690 hp (515 kW), for the navy.
LN.411:same engine as the LN.401 but with non-folding wings. Version for the Air Force, but used by the Navy.