Breguet 270 Series
| 270 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Breguet 274 with Gnome-Rhône 14K (Mistral Major) 900 HP engine | |
| Role | Reconnaissance aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Breguet |
| Designer | Marcel Vuillierme, Rene Dorand |
| First flight | 23 February 1929 |
| Introduction | 1930 |
| Retired | 1939 |
| Primary users |
Armée de l'Air Venezuelan Air Force and China |
| Number built | over 227 |
The Breguet 27 was a 1930s French biplane military reconnaissance aircraft, built for the Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) and for export to Venezuela and China.
The Breguet 27 was designed in response to a 1928 request for proposals by the Armée de l'Air. Breguet submitted a large all-metal sesquiplane with an unusual fuselage that ended abruptly, aft of the two open cockpits. The empennage was mounted on a boom behind the fuselage. Construction was largely of steel tubing with non-structural aluminium alloy sheeting and fabric covering for wings and empennage.
The prototype exhibited mediocre performance during flight trials. Nonetheless the military placed orders for 85 aircraft in 1930 and 45 in 1932, this latter batch having a more powerful engine fitted. Two high-altitude reconnaissance versions were also built as the Breguet 33, but these did not lead to further production.
Breguet 27s continued in military service through the outbreak of World War II, still equipping three Groupes at the time of the initial German offensive. After they began suffering combat losses, the Army withdrew all remaining examples from service.
The two Breguet 33 high-altitude reconnaissance prototypes were used to make significant long-distance flights. The first aircraft was flown from Paris to Hanoi in January 1932 by Paul Codos and Henri Robida in 7 days, 9 hours and 50 minutes, and back again in just 3 days 4 hours and 17 minutes. The second aircraft (christened Joé III) was flown by Maryse Hilsz on a tour of Asia, visiting Calcutta, Saigon, Hanoi, and Tokyo before returning to Paris via Saigon, eventually covering around 35,000 km (22,000 mi). Hilsz also won the 1936 Coupe Héléne Boucher flying a Breguet 27 at an average speed of 277 km/h (172 mph).
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