Levasseur PL.4

History

The Levasseur Group, founded by Frenchman Pierre Lavasseur, manages a wide range of aircraft products used by the French Navy in the early 20th century, including the Levasseur PL. 4. Maritime reconnaissance platform based on early PL. 2, itself is the design of the Navy torpedo bomber. pl.

The 4 was given a traditional biplane wing layout with a single cabin and panniers. The landing gear is a traditional "trail" design, with the main legs on wheels and the tail supported by a simple skid. The three crew members sit in three separate open-air cockpits.

First flown in 1926, the model was adopted by the French Navy for service aboard the FS Bearn, a conventionally powered aircraft carrier commissioned in 1927.

PL. The 4 was given certain qualities to better function on the water: if the crew needed to maximize the performance of the aircraft, the fuselage was given a boat-like hull design with buoys mounted under the lower wing assemblies. Additionally, the landing gear can be ejected before a forced landing -- features that should give the crew a chance to survive a crash.

With the French Navy as its sole global operator, around 40 of these were produced. The only prototype used to demonstrate the design sound is the PL. 4A3R3b.

When completed, the aircraft will be 9.7 meters long, with a wingspan of 14.6 meters and a height of 3.8 meters. The kerb weight is 1,700kg and the maximum take-off weight (MTOW) is 5,800kg. Power came from a Lorraine-Dietrich 12Eb series engine, which produced 450 horsepower, driving a twin-blade propeller unit on the nose.

Performance specs include a top speed of 111 mph, a range of up to 560 miles and a service ceiling of 16,400 feet.

Specification

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