Monday 2 October 2017

Amiot 141 & Amiot 142

Today we bring you two aircrafts in one post, however there aren't drawings of one of them.
The Amiot 141 was the name given to a modified Amiot 140M that was never made. The expected modifications was the cover of the nose gun position with a cupola, a modification of the bomb bay in order to conect the gondola, as in the original one the ventral gunner was isolated from the rest of the airplane because of the bomb bay and bigger gondola windows. No aircrafts were made and production continued towards Amiot 142 and Amiot 143.
The Amiot 142 was a prototype of an improved Amiot 140 that was powered by liquid-cooled engines. It featured the same stressed-skin construction as well as the distinctive shape with massive wings and a glazed gondola below the main fuselage. It was tested in 1933 and 40 aircrafts were ordered by the Armée de l'Air, on 23rd November 1933, more exactly.
Two prototypes were expected, one of them powered by liquid-cooled engines and another one powered by air-cooled engines.
The Amiot 142 was powered by two 860 Hispano-Suiza 12Ybrs engines. It made its maiden flight in January 1935 and was armed with five Lewis Mk.II machine guns as the French MAC 1934 was still a prototype by that year.
In the meantime, the Amiot 143 prototype, powered by air-cooled engines made also its maiden flight in August 1934, but the Armèe de l'Air decided to cancel the order and use all liquid-cooled engines for fighter production.










Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_143
2. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiot_143 (translated)
3. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_amiot_142.html

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