Latécoère 25

Latécoère 25
Preserved Latecoere 25 displayed at the Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina. It wears the markings of Aeroposta Argentina.
Role	Airliner
National origin	France
Manufacturer	Latécoère
First flight	February 1926
Primary user	Lignes Aériennes Latécoère
Number built	>50

The Latécoère 25 was a French airliner built in 1925 for use on Latécoère's own airline and its subsidiaries. Essentially a refined version of the Latécoère 17 with an enlarged wingspan, it supplanted that type in production and then in service. As Lignes Aériennes Latécoère increasingly shifted its emphasis from carrying passengers to carrying airmail, the Latécoère 25 found its definitive role as a mail plane, and was widely used in establishing the line's South American services. Airlines which operated the type included Aeroposta Argentina. Like the Latécoère 17, it was a conventional parasol-wing monoplane with enclosed seating for passengers and an open cockpit for the pilot.

One Latécoère 25 was involved in a celebrated incident when it made a forced landing high in the Andes. Hitherto, flights between Buenos Aires and Santiago made a 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) detour to avoid the mountains. On 2 March 1929, while searching for a safe route across the range, a Latécoère 25 piloted by Jean Mermoz was caught in a downdraft and forced down onto a plateau just 300 metres (986 ft) across at an altitude of 4,000 metres (13,123 ft). With his mechanic Alexandre Collenot and passenger, Count Henry de La Vaulx, Mermoz spent the next four days repairing and lightening the aircraft and making a clear path from it to the edge of the precipice. He then rolled it off the edge, diving to attain airspeed, and successfully reached Santiago.

Survivors

The only surviving example of a Latécoère 25 is preserved in the Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina in Morón. It wears the markings of Aeroposta Argentina.

File:Late02.jpg

Left side view.

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: One pilot
• Capacity: 5 passengers
• Length: 9.44 m (31 ft 0 in)
• Wingspan: 17.40 m (57 ft 1 in)
• Height: 3.60 m (11 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 48.6 m² (523 ft²)
• Empty weight: 1,700 kg (3,760 lb)
• Gross weight: 3,280 kg (7,240 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Renault 12Ja, 335 kW (450 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 190 km/h (120 mph)
• Range: 850 km (530 miles)
• Service ceiling: 4,200 m (13,800 ft)

References

• aviafrance.com
• Уголок неба