Caudron C.440 'Goéland'. Home Users Part Two.

 

The Caudron C.445 model, which would eventually, be the most produced variant, began in 1939 and continued during German occupation, at Renault's factory in the Seine department, close to Paris. A total of 690 Goélands were manufactured for the Luftwaffe alone, which, as we already saw it, used the type in the trainer, transport and liaison roles.

Under Vichy's government, the Goéland constituted the backbone of the Services Civils de liaisons aériennes metropolitaines (Metropolitan Air Connection Civil Service - the official paramilitary airline of Vichy France) and its subsidiaries in the French West Africa and Algeria. A dedicated variant of the C.445 - called C.445EF - was made for the Vichy French Air Force, of which just 120 exemplars were manufactured between 1942 and 1943. 

The next major version was the C.449 which was manufactured at Ateliers Aéronautiques in Issy-les-Molineaux, in the Seine department, close to Paris, after the liberation. The main user of this variant was the Aéronavale (French Navy's Air Arm) which employed the type from 1945 onwards (they also have been using some C.445 since 1943). The Aéronavale used the C.445 and C.449 until 1954, for liaison and training purposes in various units and they served also with the Escadrilles (Squadron) 51.S and 55.S plus many flying schools located in Morocco. A total of 349 exemplars of this variant were made, though, according to other sources, that number falls to 325. They were manufactured between the years 1944 and 1948. 

After the war, Air France acquired several Goélands for pilot and crew training and night postal services. On 1st January 1946, there were 23 C.445 and 19 C.449 serving with this French airline. They would be, however, sold, loaned or ceded to other operators and most of them were transferred to Madagascar and the French North Africa.

Some other minor French airlines like Air Azur also employed the type after the war and it was reportedly, also employed by the Beglian SABENA airline. 

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudron_C.440_Goéland

2. https://aviatechno.net/vilgenis/46-49/caudron440.php (translated)

3. https://aeronavale.org/lhistoire-de-laeronautique-navale/les-avions/ (translated)

4. https://www.valka.cz/Caudron-C-440-Goeland-t168115 (translated)

Caudron C.440 'Goéland'. Home Users Part One.

 

The Caudron Goéland was a six-seat twin-engined French utility aircraft of the 1930s. 

It was designed in 1934 by Marcel Riffard, designer who would design other successful aircraft like the Caudron Simoun. The Goéland (french word for 'seagull') was a cantilever low-wing construction made out of wood and steel. Wood in the wing and fuselage, steel tube for the top and the back of the fuselage. The wing was equipped with flaps all along the trailing edge, under the fuselage too and retractable landing gear. 

The prototype, C.440, of which 3 exemplars were made, flew for the first time on 5th March 1935 and by September it was sent to Istres to be officially tested by Caudron-Renault. The nose section was occupied by a baggage compartment, accesible by a lateral door. The crew was composed of two, pilot and co-pilot and had capacity for six passengers. It was produced for a very long period of time, as it was manufactured from 1935 until 1948, in several versions (C.440 to C.449) with modifications being related to Renault engines and slight variation in the structural design. 

The C.441 was the name given to the second prototype of the C.440 as it was fitted with a pair of Renault 453 engines which delivered a power of 200 hp each. That aircraft, registered as F-ANKX was painted in Air France's colours for a demonstration flight on 31st August 1935.

The next big version was the C.444, retained the same wing style as the C.441, though bulkheads were added to the lower surface and the fin was rounded. It was powered by two Renault 6Q-00/01 contra-rotating engines, which would become the standard for every Goéland produced from that model onwards. A total of 17 machines of this variant were made.

The main version, the C.445 was externally almost identical to the C.444, though the aforementioned wing bulkheads were removed. Around 650 machines of this type were manufactured between 1936 and 1940 when France surrendered. It got the interest of the Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) who asked Caudron to develop a military version with flexible interior fittings for either passengers or cargo. This version could also be employed for pilot and crew training and was called C.445M, was ordered on 18th March 1938 and a total of 90 machines were built.

A sanitary version was also made, the C.447 with capacity for four stretchers and a nurse and only 25 machines were made. The C.448 was a direct derivative of the C.444 with new supercharged Renault engines. 

In civilian service it was employed in limited numbers, as three machines were used in 1936 by Air France, which, one year later, sold them to the Spanish Republic via a front company. Air Bleu used a single C.444 in 1937 and three C.445 in 1939 in the Paris-Pau night mail line. Air Afrique Regale used a total of seven C.444 in their secondary aerial routes between Gao and Bamako in the French Sudan. Aéromaritime, another French airline, operated two Goélands, on the Gao-Niamey route. Together with these airlines, many were sold to private owners and governmental charges, such as the governor-general of Madagascar to which post four Goélands were assigned. 

In mainland France, the Armée de l'Air and the Aéronavale (French Navy's Air Arm) employed the type in the transport and trainer roles. They served in the Armée de l'Air's schools of Istres and Avord and also for liason purposes. In 1939 the French Navy placed an order for 60 machines which were transferred to several training and servitude sections. 

 

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudron_C.440_Goéland

2. https://www.passionair1940.fr/Armee%20de%20l%27Air/Appareils/Transport/Caudron-Goeland/EN-Caudron-goeland.htm

3. https://aviatechno.net/vilgenis/46-49/caudron440.php (translated)

4. https://www.valka.cz/Caudron-C-440-Goeland-t168115 (translated)

Caudron C.440 Goéland, Foreign Users Part Two

 

The Caudron C.440 Goéland (French word for "Seagull") was a French six-seat twin-engined utility aircraft of the 1930s that saw service with many foreign users:

• Poland: The Caudron C.445 was used by the Polish Air Force in France in 1940 as a bomber pilot and navigator trainer. They were employed in the flying schools of Lyon-Bron, Clermont-Ferrand, Istres, Corbas, Rennes and St. Cyr. From 13th May 1940 until the end of the Battle of France, the Franco-Polish Goélands were used as utility and transport airplanes to transport both men and materiel to and from frontlines. Later, during the French retreat, they were employed to evacuate Polish transport personnel. In fact, on 23rd June two Goélands evacuated a group of 16 Polish pilots from Perpignan to Oran, in Algeria. 
  At the end of the war, one C.445A-T that was built in France during the German occupation, was captured by the Poles at the city of Dziwnów, in a very bad condition though. In spite of initial interests by the Polish Air Force for the plane, it was transferred to civilian aviation, where PZL-Mielec rebuilt it and used it for transport duties and company business trips. Oddly enough, the production license and technical documentation for the PZL-Mielec Lim-1 (the Polish MiG-15 license-built in Poland) was transported in this airplane. It was used by PZL from 22nd August 1947 until 12th September 1955.
• Slovak Republic: Twelve C.445M (military variant of the regular C.445) were ordered by the Slovenské Vzdusné Zbrane (Slovak Air Force) in 1942 (although, according to other sources they were transferred by the Luftwaffe from captured machines). They were employed in the trainer and transport role, and their ultimate fate is unknown.
• Spain: After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the Republican Spanish Líneas Aéreas Postales Españolas (Spanish Postal Airlines - LAPE) acquired three ex-French Goéland machines. They were employed in various aerial routes inside the Republican territory during the Spanish Civil War. All three of them were either destroyed or captured by the Nationalists. After the war, in May 1940 some fleeing machines crash-landed in Spain and their crew and machines were interned.
• Yugoslavia: The Yugoslavian National Airline Aeroput, bought two C.449 monoplanes in 1937 and 1938 as part of their modernization programme in order to cover more aerial routes. One of them was damaged beyond repair in 1939 and the other one was pressed into service with the Royal Yugoslav Air Force in 1941 when Germany invaded and was subsequently captured by them in April 1941.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudron_C.440_Goéland

2. http://www.samolotypolskie.pl/samoloty/638/126/Caudron-C-445-Goeland (translated)

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroput

4. http://equinoxe.dk/SCWaircraft/did.html

5. http://incidentessgm.blogspot.com/2013/11/caudron-c-445.html (translated)

6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_YU-.html

7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_EC-.html

Caudron C.440 Goéland, Foreign Users Part One

 

The Caudron C.440 Goéland (French word for "seagull") and its derivatives, was a French twin-engined utility aircraft of the 1930s decade that saw service with various users abroad:

• Belgium: Caudron-Renault showcased the Goéland at Evere airfield, in Brussels on 11th March 1936. In the following June, the Belgian government signed a contract for the purchase of two C.444, powered by two Renault 6Q engines, which yielded 220 hp of power each. 
  Both aircraft were delivered to the 3eme Régiment of the Aviation Militaire (Belgian Military Aviation), based at Evere in September/October of that same year. The Goéland was intended to be used as a trainer for the fast reconnaissance and bomber aircraft the Aviation Militaire was planning to acquire. In 1938 both Goélands received civilian registrations in order to allow them to fly in foreign skies. When Germany invaded Belgium in May 1940, both machines were flown to Tours, in France, and then to Merignac airport, in Bordeaux, where they were intended to train Belgian crews before they converted to the Lioré-et-Olivier LeO.45 medium bomber. The fate of these machines is unknown, but they were most likely captured by the Germans.
• Bulgaria: Bulgaria ordered three Caudron C.444 from France back in 1936, the first of which was delivered that same year. However, as Bulgarian authorities weren't satisifed with the performance of the aircraft, the order was cancelled and the sole aircraft was returned to France. Bulgari allocated three civilian registrations for these machines, LZ-REA, LZ-REB and LZ-REC.
• Germany: The Luftwaffe was the biggest foreign user of the Goéland, with more than 750 newly-built machines plus many more captured ones when France fell. In fact, the Goéland was the most produced aircraft in French factories during the German occupation. They saw service with many Luftwaffe units as utility airplanes and crew trainers and were employed in North Africa, Western and Eastern Fronts. Some were reportedly operated by Deutsche Lufthansa too.
• Italy: A total of nine Goélands served with the Italian Regia Aeronautica (Royal Italian Air Force). They were acquired by the Italians during summer 1943 from Salon-de-Provence airfield, Southern France, and were assigned to the Scuola Volo Senza Visibilitá (Blind Fliyng School) at Cameri, North-Western Italy. After the Italian armistice all nine of them were captured by the Luftwaffe.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudron_C.440_Goéland

2. https://www.belgian-wings.be/caudron-c-444-goeland

3. http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/bulgaria/af/types/misc.htm

4. http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2015/08/caudron-c-445-goeland-zg-1-stg-1-rs.html

5. Bancarella Aeronautica - Ali Straniere in Italia 5 - Aerei Francesi nella Regia Aeronautica