Potez 75

{{Short description|French ground-attack aircraft prototype}} {{Infobox aircraft | name = Potez 75 | logo = | logo_size = | image = Potez 75 F-WGVK Le Bourget 05.57.jpg | alt = | caption = The Potez 75 prototype exhibited at the Paris Air Salon in May 1957. It shows the later enclosed pilot's position and fully glazed cockpit. | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Light ground attack aircraft | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = France | manufacturer = Potez | design_group = | designer = | builder = | issuer = | status = Scrapped | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 1 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 10 June 1953 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }}

The '''Potez 75''' was a low-cost, simple, ground-support, observation and launch aircraft for anti-tank missiles, designed and built in the early 1950s, for use in colonial conflicts. An order for 115 was placed in 1956, but cancelled in 1957.

==Design and development==

The Potez 75 was developed by the reformed Potez Company which had originally been founded by Henry Potez in 1919. The type was designed to meet the requirement for a launching platform for Nord SS.10 wire-guided anti-tank missiles. It was of all-metal construction, with a pusher engine. The twin fins and tailplane were carried on two booms extending from the lower rear fuselage and it was fitted with a fixed tricycle undercarriage. The missile operator sat in the nose, behind which was a small upper cabin accommodating the pilot.<ref name =Green>{{cite book|last=Green|first=William|title=The Aircraft of the World|year=1956|publisher=Macdonald & Co. (Publishers) Ltd|page=156}}</ref> Initially the operator's cabin had windows and the pilot's position was open, but later modifications enclosed the latter and provided the operator with better visibility by full glazing.

==Operational history==

The aircraft first flew on 10 June 1953 with experimental registration ''F-ZWSA'', but later as ''F-WGVK'' and finally as the military ''F-MAFY''. It had four 7.5 mm guns in the lower nose and could carry eight under-wing rockets.<ref name="avfrpotez75">{{cite web |last1=Parmentier |first1=Bruno |title=Potez 75 |url=https://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=875 |website=Aviafrance |accessdate=14 March 2020 |location=Paris |language=French |date=4 May 2002}}</ref> It was tested by the French military and found unsatisfactory as a missile platform. It was modified to light ground attack configuration and tested in the Algerian War, excelling in this role and orders were placed for 15 pre-production and 100 production machines in 1956.<ref name=JAWA5657>{{cite book| last= Bridgman| first= Leonard| title= Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1956-57| year= 1956| publisher= Jane's All the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd.| location= London}}</ref> This order was cancelled the following year as part of defence budget cuts. Exhibited at the May 1957 Paris Air Show, the prototype was subsequently used as a liaison aircraft and scrapped after crash landing on 16 September 1958.

==Specifications== {{Aircraft specs |ref=''Aircraft of the World,<ref name =Green/> Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1955-56,<ref name=JAWA5556>{{cite book| last= Bridgman| first= Leonard| title= Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1955-56| year= 1955| publisher= Jane's all the World's Aircraft Publishing Co. Ltd.| location= London}}</ref> Fliegerweb: Potez 75<ref name=Fliegerweb>{{cite web |title=Potez 75 |url=http://fliegerweb.com/de/lexicon/Geschichte/Potez+75-543 |website=fliegerweb.com |accessdate=14 March 2020 |language=German}}</ref>'' |prime units?=met  |crew=2 |length m=9.16 |length note= |span m=13.1 |span note= |height m=2.75 |height note= |wing area sqm=28.7 |wing area sqft= |wing area note= |aspect ratio=5.98 |airfoil= |empty weight kg=1780 |empty weight note= |gross weight kg=2515 |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight kg=2865 |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity={{cvt|1200|L|USgal impgal}} |more general=  |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Potez 8D.32 |eng1 type=inverted V-8 air-cooled piston engine |eng1 kw=480 |eng1 note=at take-off ::::::{{cvt|183|kW|0}} at {{cvt|3500|m}}

|prop blade number=3 |prop name=variable-pitch pusher propeller |prop dia m=2.8 |prop dia note=  |max speed kmh=275 |max speed note=at sea level ::::{{cvt|294|km/h|mph kn}} at {{cvt|3000|m}} |cruise speed kmh=234 |cruise speed note=at {{cvt|2000|m}} |stall speed kmh= |stall speed mph= |stall speed kts= |stall speed note= |never exceed speed kmh= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed kts= |never exceed speed note= |range km=660 |range miles= |range nmi= |range note= |combat range km= |combat range miles= |combat range nmi= |combat range note= |ferry range km=780 |ferry range miles= |ferry range nmi= |ferry range note= |endurance=3 hours 20 minutes |ceiling m=8600 |ceiling ft= |ceiling note= |g limits= |roll rate= |glide ratio= |climb rate ms=5.8 |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |time to altitude={{cvt|1000|m}} in 3 minutes ::::{{cvt|3000|m}} in 10 minutes |wing loading kg/m2=99.8 |wing loading lb/sqft= |wing loading note= |disk loading note= |fuel consumption kg/km= |fuel consumption lb/mi= |power/mass= {{cvt|0.15|kW/kg}}

|more performance=<br/> *'''Take-off run:''' {{cvt|290|m}} *'''Landing run:''' {{cvt|320|m}}  |guns=<br> :*1 × {{cvt|12.7|mm|3}} DEFA machine gun with 480 rounds :*4 × {{convert|7.5|mm|in|abbr=on|3}} fixed machine-guns in the nose with 1000 rpg |bombs= |rockets= 8 × under-wing rockets |missiles=8 × Nord SS.10 wire-guided anti-tank missiles |hardpoints= |hardpoint capacity= |hardpoint rockets= |hardpoint missiles= |hardpoint bombs= |hardpoint other=

|avionics= }}

==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading== {{Commons category|Potez 75}} * {{cite book |last1=Carbonel |first1=Jean-Christophe |title=French Secret Projects 2|date=2017 |publisher=Crecy Publishing |location=Manchester, UK|volume=French Secret Projects 2: Bombers, Patrol And Assault Aircraft|isbn=978-1-91080-906-8}} *{{cite book|last=Cuny|first=Jean|title=Les avions de combat français, 2: Chasse lourde, bombardement, assaut, exploration|publisher=Ed. Larivière|year=1989|series=Docavia|volume=30|oclc=36836833|lang=fr|trans-title=French Combat Aircraft 2: Heavy Fighters, Bombers, Attack, Reconnaissance}} *{{cite journal |last1=Leziaud|first1=Louis|title=L'unique Potez 75 (1)|journal=Le Fana de l'Aviation |date=November 1987 |issue=216|pages=20–24 |issn=0757-4169 |language=fr|trans-title=The Unique Potez 75, Part 1}} *{{cite journal |last1=Leziaud|first1=Louis|title=L'unique Potez 75 (2)|journal=Le Fana de l'Aviation |date=December 1987 |issue=217|pages=36–40 |issn=0757-4169 |language=fr|trans-title=The Unique Potez 75, Part 2}}

{{Potez aircraft}}

Category:1950s French attack aircraft 075 Category:Twin-boom aircraft Category:Low-wing aircraft Category:Single-engined pusher aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1953 Category:Single-engined piston aircraft Category:Aircraft with fixed tricycle landing gear