Talk:Potez 31

Dates, engine, history: more decent cites needed, contemporary best

The Les Ailes article is good and detailed but does not say when the Potez flew or (of course) anything later. There are only 4 other significant mentions in all the Bibliothèque Nationale's digital data base and they give no clues either as to first flight date or engine type.The web sites all agree it was a 12Mb, though not necessarily all the time. This was a V-12. However, Les Ailes is clear that in mid-1928 the 31 had a 500 hp Hispano-Suiza W-12, so that would be a 12G or 12Ga (as used on the Potez 25). At the risk of OR, I've put that in. Fr:Wiki half suggests this (12Mb/Ga?) as well two other engines; the use (or intention of use) of a Lorraine Pétrel is supported by the link [gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7595858m/f2 here], from the 1934 (late) Paris Salon. Not really enough to use, though. I suspect that Coroller and Ledet's book, cited by Fr:Wiki might shed some light but I don't have it.

Strangely, the two other newspaper reports are from the later1930s, when I assumed the 31 was dead and gone, [gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k7584584g/f7 this one] 2 (!) in N. Vietnam and [gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5765922k the other] at Djibouti. Cases of mistaken i/d?TSRL (talk)

to add fuel to the fire, the photo on Flikr [1] shows the aircraft fitted with a W-12, but the exhaust arrangement indicates it is not the HS 12G, but more likely the Lorraine 12E / 12F.--Petebutt (talk) 07:56, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

That's interesting - I missed this pic. Certainly a very different W-12; the radiator's moved as well. Fr:Wiki suggests the Lorraine-D 12Fb; L'Homme Libre has Lorraine Petrel but this was a V-12 according to Jane's 1938, aka the 12H.TSRL (talk) 09:46, 19 February 2015 (UTC) Having had a look at an an image of the HS 12G, I am increasingly confident that the photo in Les Ailes shows a V-12, not a W-12, so maybe that was a 12Mb or the Petrel. According to Gunston, the Petrel appeared in 1932, ruling it out.TSRL (talk) 10:07, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Check out [2] the author used a probably definitive source. a ref to i have added to your article--Petebutt (talk) 11:20, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

I was reluctant to cite it before I had read it (there are very few copies about, if any), though the engine list is probably right. As I said, I do think that's the place to look since Coroller worked on these designs, though it's said he threw a lot of records away. Ledet may still be around. Cheers,TSRL (talk) 16:16, 20 February 2015 (UTC)